Star of Gryffindor
by SmileItsEllie
Summary: Astra Lewis dreams of having a family who will love her. When someone called Mrs. Potter shows up to take Astra to Hogwarts, it seems Astra will get her wish. But not all is well... When an unknown villian starts using Unforgivable Curses on her classmates, Astra doesn't know what to do. With her new friends, Albus Potter and Wren Predatel, will Astra be able to save the school?
1. Chapter 1 - The Strange Dinner Guest

**Thanks for choosing to read this! I really hope you like it. As soon as I figure out how to, I'll give this story a cover...**

 **I have published this story before on a site called Wattpad, but Wattpad doesn't divide its fanfiction into different genres, so it's very hard to get reads on there. But who knows? Perhaps no one will read this. I just thought I'd try. If you want to verify that I'm not stealing this from a girl on Wattpad, my username on there is Smile_Its_Ellie.**

 **Anyway, if people like this, there is a chance that I will have a second book. And a third. I've planned seven, but plans can be changed. Anyway, read on!**

For a moment after I woke up, I wasn't sure where I was. Dimly, I recognized that I was still half asleep, but my brain was functioning much too slow to know what that meant. I lay in the dark, completely terrified, for a few moments. Slowly, my senses started coming back. Why was I scared? Probably a dream. I couldn't remember it, but it wasn't an extremely rare occurrence. Weird dreams were normal. At least, for me.

As I sat in the dark, trying to get my heartbeat back to normal, I suddenly remembered that it was my birthday. Today was the day I turned eleven. It practically marked eleven years here. I smiled slightly to myself. No one would remember it, of course. They never did. But it was still nice being eleven, instead of plain, boring ten.

Any minute now, the normal, incessant knocking would start up. I was too comfortable to stand up and turn on the lights, so I sat in the darkness waiting for my foster sister, Mara, to start pounding on the door.

For as long as I could remember, I'd lived here. Well, not here, in this room, exactly. This had happened six years ago, when the twins were born. But I'd lived here, in this house, with the Lewis's, for most of my life. My birth parents gave me up, or weren't able to take care of me properly, or something. No one seemed to know, and my whole life I'd been warned against asking too many questions. The point is, eleven long years ago, I got thrown into that wonderful beast they call the British foster care system.

The Lewis's were my long-term foster parents. When I first came to them, as a newborn, the only child they had was Mara, a bratty two-year-old who wasn't incredibly happy to get a sister. My foster parents were delighted, at the time, though. My foster mom had been told that, after she got sick giving birth to Mara, she wouldn't be able to have more children. Sure, my foster dad had wanted a boy, but he had been content with two beautiful princesses.

I wish it had stayed that way.

Mara started pounding on my door, startling me out of my thoughts. I was tempted to push the door open and hit her in the face with it, but, of course, that would just get me into trouble. I waited until the banging stopped, then gently pushed the door open and slipped out. As soon as I did, Mara grabbed my wrist and dragged me into her room. She plopped down on a stool and airily pointed to a brush on her dresser, then got too absorbed in a texting conversation to pay any more attention to me. She got that phone on her seventh birthday, and the twins each got one when they turned five. I wasn't allowed to have one, in case I turned into "more of a bad influence." Las if I was one already.

I pulled Mara's hair as tight as I could, making her grimace, but she didn't complain. If there's one thing I was good at, it was taming my sister's unruly black curls, and she knew it.

After she was satisfied with her braid, Mara waved me out of her room and I slipped down to the kitchen. Mom rolled her eyes when she saw me. "What are you doing down here? Go help Blaise get dressed." I turned on my heel and ran back upstairs. If she thought I was going too slow, I'd get smacked for sure.

Blaise and Cameron were born when I was four. I was incredibly excited about it, because maybe for once I wouldn't be the one getting in trouble! I'd always been blamed in every fight Mara and I had. I had naively thought it was just because I was the youngest.

However, even while my foster parents were celebrating, they were realizing that I was not the sort of child to be around babies. If it wasn't for the check they got from the government for taking care of me, they may have given me away right then.

Cameron and Blaise were born happy and healthy. I made the comment that Cameron's nose was crooked and got smacked for it, but we were all thinking it. Mara took to being the twin's older sister like a fish to water, and that probably should have tipped me off about how she felt about me. Until then, I had lived through four years of torture at her hands.

When the twins came, I got kicked out of my room so Cameron could have a place to sleep. This didn't bother me until that night, when Mara absolutely refused to let me enter her room. Dad wouldn't let me share with Blaise, either. In the end, I set up my few belongings on the floor in the hall closet out of spite, and found to my surprise that everyone was perfectly fine with that. It wasn't very big, but I could stand up, and there was a light, even if I couldn't reach the string to turn it on. It was a bit cramped by the time I turned eleven, of course. I was starting to rest my four-year-old self's stubbornness. Not that I'd lost any of it by then.

Over the months after the twins were born, I started to realize something that quite broke my four-year-old heart. Seeing Mom catering to every whim of Mara's, and doing everything she could for the twins, and seeing Mara's room fill up with toys from relatives who "worried that poor little Mara might feel neglected," I realized that no one was going to do that for me. No one cared about Astra; as long as she stayed in her closet, everyone was happy. For a few days I acted incredibly sulky about this, but by the eighth lecture and fifth slap, I decided to not show my emotions.

I spent the next six years at my heartless older sister's mercy, and being annoyed by the twins, who I came to resent. Blaise's lisp annoyed me when she whined (every hour of every day), and Cameron's bossy attitude made me want him to step on a Lego.

I quickly mounted the stairs and ran to my sister's room. "Athtra!" Blaise cried. "I need help!"

And she certainly did. Somehow, Blaise had managed to get her head through the arm of her (inside-out) shirt, but couldn't figure out what to do after that. Her pants were on backwards, too, I noticed. I sighed and helped her take her shirt off, only to put it on again.

"What'th for breakfatht?" Blaise asked.

"I don't know," I said shortly. I honestly didn't care about anything right then. I was in a bad mood already, because of my forgotten birthday, and Blaise's morning clothing adventures always annoyed me.

"But I want breakfatht," Blaise whined. "You can't thtop me."

"And I don't want to," I snapped.

Blaise stomped her foot. "I'm going to get Mommy," she threatened.

"Say your name."

"Blaithe," she said automatically, and I cracked up. Maybe not the best idea, in hindsight, but she was going to call Mom anyway, so might as well get a little fun out of it.

Blaise started crying, an obvious fake cry that Mom fell for every time, and ran past me out of the room. I heard her as she pounded down the stairs, yelling, "MOMMY! ATHTRA ITH MAKING FUN OF ME!"

I rolled my eyes, and turned to go to the kitchen, only to find my path blocked Mara.

"Move," I muttered.

She crossed her arms. "You don't talk that way to me. And you don't treat Blaise that way. Understand?" I tried to push past her, but she shoved me, and I fell backwards, landing hard on the floor. "UNDERSTAND?"

I glared at her, but nodded. She smirked as she glided out of the door, and down to the kitchen, just as Mom's voice floated up, screaming for me down in the kitchen.

As she flounced away, and I glared at the back of her head, I noticed her hair starting to smoke.

Oh no.

I quickly look away and tried to calm myself down. I didn't need this today.

Breathe in, breathe out. Calm, Astra, calm. Focus on anything except Mara.

Too late.

Mara's scream rang throughout the house, and I bolted out to the hallway to see exactly what had happened. The sight shocked even me.

There was a small flame licking at Mara's hair. I froze in place, unsure of what to do. Mara was going into hysterics. Luckily, Dad came storming out of his bedroom to see what all the noise was about.

"What's going on?" he yelled, before noticing the fire that was quickly taking over Mara's hair. Dad dashed over to my closet and pulled the fire extinguisher down from the top shelf. He turned it towards Mara and unleashed a storm of white foam on her.

It took ten minutes to get her to calm down enough to say what happened, and even then, all she could do was point at me. Lovely.

It wasn't like this was the first time something like this happened. Every few months, I would cause something strange, and I still didn't know why. No one did. The Lewis's tried to keep it a closely guarded secret, which worked well until I accidentally changed the substitute teacher's hair purple, or made a neighbor's cat turn into a balloon.

The last time this has happened, though, had been several months before, and I'd started to hope that maybe I was past causing impossible things. The Christmas when I was ten, Dad decided I didn't need to be in the family Christmas picture, since I wasn't technically a Lewis. I sat there, glowering at everyone, as the family smiled cheerily. I was glaring at the camera when it exploded. I got grounded until February for that. And nothing had happened since. Until today.

I had no idea that after today, nothing would ever be the same.

After scrubbing down every toilet in this house, and cleaning the kitchen until it was so sparkling white that it hurt your eyes to look at it, I had to say, this was my second worst birthday. The worst was when Dad had called the cops on me because I "strangled" Mara, also know as tripped over Cameron's outstretched foot and falling on her.

Mom passed out our plates at dinner, making sure I got noticeably less than my most beloved siblings. I was used to that. I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible as I ate my supper. I was basically trying to get through the day without drawing any more attention to myself.

Mara launched into an animated, obviously rehearsed monologue about this new store in the mall she wanted to visit, and Mom promised to take her there as soon as she could. I hated shopping. Clothes, shoes, jewelry. That might just have been because I was never actually allowed to get anything.

Dad talked about his boring job as an office manager for some huge corporation. Mom talked about her friends, the ones she met got lunch every Saturday. Blaise and Cameron made a huge mess fighting, spilling Cameron's coke everywhere. Dad made me clean it up. Normal.

And then something happened that wasn't normal. In fact, it was so unusual that you might go so far as to call it insane. As Mom was setting out a tray of cookies in the middle of the table, an owl came crashing down our chimney.

It hit the ground, and immediately flew up and landed on the table. I didn't think it was too good at landing because it flapped its wings around, upsetting everyone's drinks, and sent the tray of cookies flying.

Everyone screamed, and in the chaos, I was the first one to notice the scroll attached to its foot. As Mom jumped up to grab the flyswatter, I reached across the table and snatched the parchment. As Blaise screamed about aliens attacking, I quickly looked at the letter.

It was addressed in green ink to Ms. A. Lewis, The Linen Closet, 4326 St. Anthony Dr, London. I stared at it, briefly wondering how this person knew where I slept, and then quickly opened it.

 _~Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~_

 _Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall_

 _Dear Ms. Lewis,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 _Terms begins September 1._

"What's Astra got?" Cameron cut in.

I quickly hid the letter under the table, but it was too late, Dad had seen it. "Give that to me," he said. I shook my head. "What?" He sounded stunned, and I didn't blame him. I wasn't normally openly rebellious. I tended to hide my stubborn streak as often as possible.

"It's addressed to me," I stated, frowning. I'd never gotten a letter before (especially never by owl), and I was keeping this one. The owl looked at me curiously. I thought it was waiting for a reply.

"Give-that-to-me!" Dad repeated. I shook my head, and he stood up menacingly. I shrunk a bit in my seat. He stomped over to behind my chair and ripped the letter out of my hands, then triumphantly sauntered back to his seat at the head of the table.

I smiled a little as I saw his eyes bulge in surprise at the content. He beckoned Mom over, and her reaction was just as funny. She glanced at the owl like it might be poisonous.

"Can I go?" The words slipped out of my mouth.

Dad took a moment to collect himself. "Of course not," he said sharply. "This is probably some practical joke."

"Well then, you'd be able to get rid of me. Sounds like a win-win situation," I answered hotly. A part of me was surprised at myself. Sure, I'd been thinking these things all my life, but I'd never actually said anything out loud.

"What's going on?" Mara asked bitterly, obviously a bit hurt that I knew something she didn't.

Dad ignored her. "There is no such thing as magic!" he said, making Blaise cry. Her whole life revolved around Tinkerbell, Frozen, and Santa Claus.

"Well then, explain how an owl just flew down our chimney to deliver a letter." I folded my arms and smirked. "It even says where I sleep!"

Mara stared at me like she didn't know me.

"No. Not happening. This is a joke." Dad tore the letter up and threw it away, then had Mom open the back door while he pushed the owl out into the night. It took several minutes, filled with frustrated grunts, flapping wings, and flying feathers.

I sighed and slumped down in my chair. Well, there went my small chance at freedom.

At that moment, two things happened. One, someone knocked on the back door. Two, about fifty letters came shooting down the fire place and exploded out into the kitchen, bringing a lot of soot with them. As my siblings coughed and spluttered, I grabbed one letter and hid it under my shirt, then turned to see who our visitor was.

The woman standing in our kitchen was by far the strangest I'd seen. She had long, flame-red hair that probably fell to her waist. A pointed hat, like a witch's hat, was perched on her head. She was wearing a dark blue cloak, and it looked very out of place in Mom's newly-sootified but perfectly normal kitchen. She smiled at me, and I could see that she was quite pretty.

Dad looked very disturbed.

"Who are you?" he demanded immediately.

"Ginny Potter, a representative of Hogwarts. We had a feeling there might be some trouble getting your daughter to the school."

"There bloody well will be some trouble, because she's not going," Dad said stubbornly, crossing his arms. I didn't know how he even had the courage to do that, standing in his chaos-filled, letter-and-soot-covered kitchen. The Lewis's prized orderliness over anything else, and having a stranger see their kitchen like this must have been tough.

"Let me just tell you," Ginny continued, completely ignoring my dad, "that your daughter is one of the most qualified witches that will ever pass through Hogwart's doors. She is very powerful. You must be proud."

"What?" Dad sputtered. "A-a witch?!" He looked at me for an explanation, Hogwbut this was news to me too. "First off, let me tell you, that...that thing is not my daughter! And why would I be proud to have a witch under my roof?! Huh? Tell me that? Why should I be-"

"I was afraid something like this would happen," the witch said, sighing, and pulled out a strip of wood that I guessed to be a wand.

Immediately on the alert, Dad stuttered, "W-what...what is that?" Mara was hiding behind Mom, and twins were behind her. Only I remained in my seat.

"This? It's a wand, of course. And I might be forced to use it if your daughter is unable to come to the school..." she trailed off, and whisked it around a bit casually.

Dad watched with growing horror, then turned on me. "IF YOU GO TO THAT SCHOOL, YOU'RE NEVER COMING BACK. NOW GO, AND GOOD RIDDANCE!" I staggered backwards. I hadn't expected that. I glanced at Ms. Potter.

"You might want to pack your things, then," she said calmly.

I quickly ran up the stairs, chased by Dad's, or my former dad's, yell that "THAT BETTER TAKE LESS THAN TEN MINUTES."

All in all, it took about three minutes. I heaved one battered suitcase down the stairs, containing a few sets of clothes and my entire life's savings: about three pounds. I walked into the kitchen, giddy with excitement. ~

The Lewis's were all huddled together, Dad in front. There'd obviously been an awkward silence, and Ginny looked very relieved when I walk in. "Ready?"

"Wait!" Mom cried. For a second, I hoped that maybe she'd hug me, or say she loves me, or something motherly like that. My hopes were dashed to pieces when she ran over to a cupboard and pulled out a small bag. "Take this," she said, shoving it at me. "It's your birth certificate and things. Pictures of your parents. I don't want it."

I frowned. "Thank you," I said coldly, then quickly turned back to Ginny. She smiled.

"Now are we ready?" I nodded. "All right, let's go." She took my hand and led me outside, and I realized just how crazy this was. I was never coming back here. I was going with a strange woman to who knows where, and I was going to learn magic and be a witch. And I couldn't have been happier.

 **I'll be updating on Mondays and Fridays. It shouldn't be very hard, unless I somehow catch up with what I'm posting on Wattpad, but I'm updating that twice a week as well, so I should always have something to post here.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Diagon Alley

Reality struck me as Ms. Potter led me out into the night. How on earth were we going to get there? And I didn't have any money! How would I pay for any of this?

Ms. Potter seemed to sense my worry. "If you're wondering how we're traveling, I hope you don't object to walking. You're not old enough to Apparate, of course, and the Lewis's chimney isn't connected to the Floo network, so we'll have to settle on Muggle transportation. I hope you don't mind," she said, sounding a bit apologetic.

I understood exactly none of that. I had so many questions, but decided on the easiest. "What's 'Muggle'?"

Ms. Potter, thank goodness, didn't seem fazed by that at all. "Muggles are the non-magical population. I believe you yourself are the child of muggles, but we can't be sure, since the Lewis's aren't your birth family, are they?"

I just nodded. All right, so we would be taking a taxi, or the Underground. I could do that. My other original question bobbed to the surface. "What about money? I don't have any...it's got to be really expensive, right?"

"Don't worry about that. Hogwarts has a fund for students who might need help purchasing robes or books. Everything is taken care of," Ms. Potter said firmly.

After a few blocks of walking in silence, Ms. Potter sighed. "How do you get a tacky?"

"A taxi?" I asked, confused. _Tacky?_ And didn't she know?

She nodded. "Right, that's it. How do you get one to drive you?"

A bit bewildered, and starting to notice the strange looks people were giving Ginny, I quickly hailed a cab, and we clambered in. The cab driver and I both looked at Ms. Potter expectantly, and she seemed a flustered. I don't think she knew what to do.

"Where are we going?" I hissed.

She quickly nodded and regained her composure. She quickly gave the address, on a street I'd never heard of. Not that that was surprising. London is pretty big, after all.

I don't know when I fell asleep, but I did, and soon Ms. Potter was shaking me awake. We alighted from the taxi in front of a tiny pub. The swinging sign over the door said "The Leaky Cauldron." I stood staring stupidly at it as Ms. Potter retrieved my trunk, then led me through the doors.

I was too tired to listen as she talked to the bartender, then beckoned me to a door off the side, and led me to a small bedroom, where I promptly fell into bed and slept like a baby.

I woke up to see sunlight drifting through a window. At first, I couldn't remember where I was. The room was small, with the one bed I was in, and a mirror across the room, sitting over a dresser.

"Was that...was that all _real_?" I whispered.

To my great surprise, my reflection answered, "I expect so. I mean, you're sitting here."

A little bit freaked out, I tiptoed out of my room and down the hall. I peeked out into the main room of the pub, which was already busy and bustling. I spied Ms. Potter talking to a group of people, a lot of whom seemed to have flaming red hair like hers. When she saw me, though, she waved me over.

"Have a good rest?" she asked amiably.

I nod. "Where are we?" I asked as she led me to a secluded table near the back. Most of the group she had been talking to left, but a man, probably her husband, and three children stayed behind, sitting a few tables away, obviously waiting for us. I think they were trying to make this all less confusing, but I can't see how it helped.

"This is the Leaky Cauldron."

A waitress brought by a plate with bacon and eggs on it and placed it in front of me. I quickly started eating. I was starving.

"Very famous place," Ms, well, Mrs. Potter continued. "And the entrance to Diagon Alley."

"Diagon Alley?"

"Oh, you'll see in a few minutes. After breakfast, we need to go find your supplies for school. Need to get Albus's too..."

"So...there are wizards everywhere?" I asked after a pause.

Mrs. Potter nodded. "Everywhere there are muggles, anyway. And Hogwarts is one of the finest schools for training young wizards and witches."

"Why haven't I seen any before?"

"I expect you have, only you didn't know it."

While I was eating, I remembered the bag that Mom...Mrs. Lewis...thrust at me. I felt around my pockets, and saw that it was still there. Quickly, I brought it up to the table and emptied it next to my plate.

There was one certificate that seemed to have something to do with my being a foster child, and my strange birth certificate. It only had my first name, and the time and date of my birth. No last name, or parents' names, or even just a middle name. Mrs. Potter didn't know what to think about that either. Along with the papers, there was only a tiny gold key.

"What could this be for?" I wondered out loud.

Mrs. Potter looked incredibly interested. "Astra, I believe that that is a key to a vault in Gringott's...may I see?" I quickly handed it over. What the heck was Gringott's?

She turned it over a few times, then look at a little number engraved on it. "1612," she muttered. A second later, she said, "Perhaps you won't need to use the fund after all. This was your parents?" I nodded, then shrugged. I guess it was... "Maybe they've left you something. In any case, we'll check it out before we buy your supplies."

I was too excited to eat anything else, so after a few minutes, Mrs. Potter led me out to the back yard. All the plants looked dead, and I didn't see an alley anywhere. "Where are-"

I didn't get to answer. Mrs. Potter tapped a brick, and suddenly a small hole appeared in the wall. It grew wider and wider until we were facing a large archway, which Mrs. Potter promptly stepped through.

I followed her, and turned around to see the man and three children walking through the arch as well. After the little girl stepped through, it closed up so it looked like a normal brick wall.

The family smiled at me as Mrs. Potter said, "Astra, this is my husband. He'll be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year."

"Hello," I said quietly, shaking his outstretched hand.

"-and these are our children, James, Albus, and Lily." She indicated each child as she says their name.

Albus smiled at me. "We'll both be first years this year, right?" I nodded.

"So...where to first?" Professor Potter asked Mrs. Potter.

"Gringott's. Astra has a key to a vault, and I thought we should check that out first."

James gaped at me. "You have a vault in Gringott's?" He turned to his dad. "Can I come see? Please!"

Mrs. Potter shook her head. "You, Albus, and Lily can wait with your dad here, or go see Uncle Ron at the shop."

Whatever "the shop" was, it was apparently much better than waiting in the street. James and Albus took off down the road, followed by their sister and dad. Mrs. Potter led me down Diagon Alley, and I got a good look at it for the first time.

We were on a twisting cobbled street that was lined with the strangest shops I'd ever seen. One advertised cauldrons, and another owls, and another robes. It was too much to take in at one time, and Mrs. Potter didn't give me time to gawk. We hurried down the street to a large marble building that towered over the surrounding shops.

At the door, we were greeted by...

"Goblins?"

Mrs. Potter nodded. "Gringott's is run by goblins." She must have noticed my worried face, because she added, "Don't worry, they won't hurt you." I'm afraid Lord of the Rings had ruined any warm and fuzzy feelings I would ever have for goblins.

I stared around at everything as Mrs. Potter spoke to a goblin at a desk that I couldn't see over. Soon, we were led to a large cart, and Mrs. Potter helped me clamber in.

I wasn't expecting the cart to go quite so fast. It zoomed away down into the earth, and I felt like I was going to throw up, but it was amazing, and then it was over.

"Let's do that again!"

Mrs. Potter looked a little green as she negated that suggestion.

The goblin led us to a large gold door. I could see three or four other doors in a semicircle, all identical.

Mrs. Potter handed me my key. I inserted it in the tiny keyhole as the goblin placed his hand on the door. It slid up, revealing a huge vault. It had quite a bit of stuff in there, mainly large golden coins that I didn't recognize. There were also a few other odds and ends. I saw a few golden cups, a silver sword, and an old wand.

"Galleons," explained Mrs. Potter. "And these," she said, indicating several silver coins, "are Sickles. Those are Knuts. 29 Knuts in a Sickle, and 17 Sickles in a Galleon." I nodded, but I had no idea what she was talking about.

The little goblin handed Mrs. Potter a small drawstring bag, and she filled it with Galleons, then handed it to me. "Don't lose that, or we'll have to come get more, and I don't think I want to ride that cart again today."

A few minutes later, we were standing inside the door of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, a magical joke shop that was full of people. I caught sight of Lily running by, carrying a wand which turned into a rubber chicken as she shook it. James was gazing in awe at a display entitled, "Nosebleed Nougat," and Albus was in the back of the store with his dad, talking to two red-headed men who looked a lot like Mrs. Potter.

"Ginny!" the younger one called, and Mrs. Potter led me towards the back, maneuvering around laughing children and adults alike.

During the round of greetings, I slipped back a bit to stand next to Albus, who grinned at me. " 'Ello," he said.

"Hi," I said, returning his smile. "This is amazing."

"What, Uncle George and Uncle Ron's store?"

"Everything," I said simply, and he nodded wisely.

"Yep. Everything is pretty amazing. Except spiders. They're not amazing."

Twenty minutes later, Albus and I followed Mrs. Potter into Ollivander's, a wand shop. A middle-aged man met us, smiling at everyone. A very old man sat on a chair behind a desk that was piled high with boxes.

"Welcome, welcome. Albus Potter? Look just like your dad." Albus beamed. "Excited to get a wand?" Albus nodded enthusiastically.

"Hello, Garrick," Mrs. Potter called to the old man. He raised a hand in acknowledgment. "Nice to see you, too, Jared," she said to the younger man. She lowered her voice. "How's your grandfather doing?" Mrs. Potter inclined her head towards the old man.

"Not too bad. Well enough to sit and watch the wand proceedings. Occasionally makes comments about the wands, but I'm afraid he's on his way out, if you know what I mean." The younger Mr. Ollivander sighed. "I suppose it's about time, though. He's over a hundred now, and, well, ever since what happened to him while the Dark Lord was trying to rise again, he hasn't been quite right." He said all of this in a confidential whisper, though the older Mr. Ollivander looked too deaf to be able to hear us muttering about him.

Albus found a wand pretty quickly, though, as Mr. Ollivander said, "The wand chooses the wizard." I was not so lucky.

After the fiftieth wand and half an hour, I was beginning to lose hope. Albus looked bored, and though his mom was watching interestedly, it seemed like she was acting. I was about to just tell everyone to give up when Mr. Ollivander handed me one last wand.

This wand was made from a darker, rich wood, and had intricate designs covering the handle. It mainly looked like swirls and flowers. It was beautiful.

"Alder, phoenix feather core, 11 inches. Try this one, Astra." I took the wand, and immediately something different happened. The end lit up, and I was left feeling elated. The younger Mr. Ollivander smiled. "I think we have a match.

Albus whooped with joy and jumped up, almost knocking over a pile of precariously stacked wand boxes. After Mrs. Potter helped me pay for my wand, we walked out of the stuffy shop and into the bright sunlight.

"Let's go get robes now!" Albus suggested. Mrs. Potter let Albus lead the way to a shop bearing the name "Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions."

Soon, Albus and I were both being fitting for school robes. A few feet away, two blonde children who looked like they were our age were also being fitted. They would have been identical if they hadn't been of opposite genders.

The girl rolled her eyes haughtily at Albus, but smiled brightly at me. "Starting at Hogwarts?"

I frowned. "Yeah..."

"What house are you going to be in?" the boy asked.

Albus rolled his eyes. "You don't choose your house! You get sorted in!"

"Fine," the girl said, glaring at Albus. "What house do you want to be in?"

I glanced helplessly at Albus, who was locked in a stare down with the blond boy. I decided on shrugging.

"I'm going to be in Slytherin," the girl said. "And Scorpius will, too."

The boy, Scorpius, nodded. What terrible parents cursed him with that name? What was his sister's name, Arachnia?

"I wouldn't want to be in Slytherin," Albus said hotly. "That's where all Death Eaters came from."

I had no idea what that meant, but Scorpius grew very pale, and the girl looked like she was about to run Albus through with a knife. "How dare you say that!"

"It's true!" Albus retorted.

The girl was about to say more, but Scorpius grabbed her shoulder. "Come on, Ciara, let's go."

I watched them go, confusion flooding my brain. "What was that about?"

"Could you...um...not mention this to my mum...?"

"As long as you answer my question."

Albus sighed. "Well, they're Malfoys."

Apparently he thought that was enough of an answer, but after a few minutes of me staring at him expectantly, Albus seemed to realize that I had no idea what that meant.

"Well, it's a long story, but basically, our dads never got along, and James and I have decided to carry on the legacy."

"Why? Isn't this how stupid feuds start? Like Romeo and Juliet?"

"Like what?" Now it was Albus's turn to be confused.

"You've never heard of Romeo and Juliet?" I gaped at him.

"It's a muggle thing, isn't it?"

"Um...I guess it is..."

"I bet Aunt Hermione's heard of it..." Albus trailed off. Suddenly, he groaned. "Uh-oh..."

"What?"

"We have to see _Rose_ today."

"Who's Rose?"

Albus sighed. "My cousin. She's a bratty know-it-all."

"Sounds annoying."

Albus smiled at me. "Yeah. She's starting Hogwarts this year, too. Hope she's not in Gryffindor."

We spent the next few hours having the most fun I've ever had in my life. We found Mr. Potter, James, and Lily in Flourish and Blotts, a bookstore, where we got all of our school books. Then, Mr. Potter took Albus, Lily, and me to a store called Eeylops Owl Emporium.

Albus was incredibly excited about getting his own owl. After hearing that my birthday had went by unnoticed yesterday, he had his more-than-obliging dad buy me one as well, as a late birthday present.

I let Lily help pick it out, much to her delight, and she took almost twenty minutes in careful deliberation over almost every owl in the store. Finally, she chose a beautiful snowy white one. When Mr. Potter saw it, he seemed a bit upset, but quickly covered it with a smile, so I pretended I didn't notice.

Lily named mine Anastasia, and named Albus's (much to his dismay) Dumbleton. He kept grumbling about how "that's not Dumbledore's name" and how Lily was "the stupidest sister ever," which she happily ignored because I let her carry Anastasia.

Back in the Leaky Cauldron, James, Albus and I helped push most of the tables together into one long row. James kept going on and on about how he couldn't wait to see his cousins Fred and Louis, and Albus kept going on and on about how he'd do anything to not see his cousin Rose. I spent most of the time talking to Lily, who I found out was nine, wanted to start Hogwarts early, and loved Quidditch, whatever that was.

Soon, the pub filled with gingers. There were a few blondes and brunettes sprinkled throughout, and older one boy with jarringly turquoise hair who was holding one of the blonde girls' hands. Albus had a _huge_ family.

I sat down next to Albus and Lily, and managed to not say a word the entire time. Apparently the insufferable Rose was sitting at the other end of the long table because Lily and I were the only girls at this end. I listened to Albus and his cousins talking, though most of what they said (more about quidditch?) went over my head.

I went to bed that night exhausted but happy. The term at Hogwarts started the next day, and the landlady of the Leaky Cauldron and her family would be taking me to the train station early in the morning. I barely slept that night.


	3. Chapter 3 - There is No Platform 9 34

I woke up bright and early. Literally. Four thirty in the morning. But I couldn't fall back asleep, so at five thirty I finally decided to just get up, because staying in bed was boring and I wasn't going to sleep.

I rolled out of bed and stumbled, bleary-eyed, over to the window. Pushing back the curtains revealed that the sky still thought it was night. I was exhausted, but my brain refused to believe the evidence right in front of my eyes that the world was not awake yet. Mentally, I had been up for hours.

After I got ready, I did an extensive search of my tiny room for wayward belongings, but everything was already packed neatly in my trunk. My coat was flung over the back of a chair, ready for when I would put it on. Anastasia was sleeping soundly in her cage at the foot of my bed. I ended up pacing back and forth across the width of my room for a good hour before I heard signs of life downstairs.

I glanced at my watch. 6:30. Probably not too early to head downstairs.

It took ten minutes to drag my trunk to the stairs. I was trying to figure out how to get it down the stairs when an elderly witch passed me in the hall. She smiled kindly, uttered a charm, whisked her wand a bit, and my trunk rose several inches off the ground and floated down the stairs.

"Thanks!" I called over my shoulder as I chased after my trunk, which neatly set itself down at the bottom of the stairs.

The only people in the pub itself were the landlady, Hannah Longbottom, and her husband. For a second, I wondered why he was up so early, but then I remembered something Albus told me. He was the herbology professor at Hogwarts, so of course he'd probably been getting ready to go. They both greeted me kindly as I dragged my trunk through the door, and Professor Longbottom walked over to help me.

"Excited for your first day?" Professor Longbottom asked as he set my trunk down next to my seat. Hannah produced a plate of bacon and eggs as I nodded eagerly. I was beyond excited, actually.

"How'd you sleep, dear?" Hannah asked, setting out two plates for herself and her husband across the table from me.

"Pretty well," I lied, but unfortunately, I'm a terrible liar. Hannah raised an eyebrow, looking amused, but didn't say anything.

"Do you have any kids at Hogwarts?" I asked after a minute. Professor Longbottom looked about Professor Potter's age, so maybe he had kids going to Hogwarts as well.

Professor Longbottom nodded. "Two, actually. Arthur is in your year, and Andrew is a third year."

"And two more coming next year," Hannah said, beaming at nothing in particular. Was that what most mothers looked like when they talked about their kids? For some reason, I had a hard time comprehending a loving mother.

At that moment, four kids trudged into the room, looking incredibly tired. The two boys looked ecstatic in spite of the tiredness, though, and the younger boy bounced into the chair next to mine.

"Hi!" He croaked, then cleared his throat. "Sorry, didn't mean to scar your ears. I'm Arthur!"

I smiled. "I'm Astra."

"Oh, we know that," the older boy said.

"Andrew, Arthur, go eat please, so we won't be late for the train." Hannah stood up and led the children to the kitchen, leaving Professor Longbottom and me to sit and eat in silence.

As the pub started filling up, Arthur and Andrew ran back and forth between the family's apartment and their trunks, sitting by the door, stuffing in things they'd forgotten like socks and hats and a stuffed bear. I sat on my trunk next to theirs and watched interestedly.

Their two little sisters, identical twins, watching me warily from a few yards away, which was a bit uncomfortable. Finally, one of them said, "Your hair looks white."

I blinked in surprise. "My hair looks...white...?" I repeated, then reached around to pull a lock of it forward. It was very blonde, but not a really pale sort of blonde. In that light, I could see how they'd think that, though. "It's not white. It's blonde," I said matter-of-factly.

The girl stared at me. "Oh."

"It's pretty," her twin added.

"Thanks," I said, smiling.

Taking that as a sign of friendliness, the twins sat down on their brothers' trunks next to me. "Are you going to Hogwarts too?" asked the first, a hint of awe in her voice.

I nodded. "Yep. I'll be in Arthur's year."

"I'm Alyssa," said the first twin. "That's Anna." She pointed at her sister.

Anna sighed. "We can't go to Hogwarts until next year."

"You're lucky," Alyssa added.

I nodded. I wasn't quite sure what to make of these twins.

"What house do you want to be in?" Anna asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I don't really know what each house is like, honestly."

Anna glanced at Alyssa excitedly, who was looking back at her just as excited. "Well," Anna started, "Hufflepuffs are just and loyal-"

"-Gryffindors are brave and daring-"

"-Ravenclaws are smart-"

"-And Slytherins are cunning. And evil."

"They're not all evil." Andrew had walked up. He made Alyssa hop off his trunk so he could stuff some cards into it. They looked like baseball cards.

"They are so evil!" Anna retorted.

"Severus Snape wasn't evil, was he? You can ask Professor Potter about him, he'll tell you." Andrew walked off again, acting incredibly superior.

Alyssa sat back down in a huff. "He thinks he's _so cool,_ just cause he goes to school and gets new books and robes and has an owl."

"He's not that cool at all," Anna agreed.

I was saved having to comment by Professor Longbottom calling Andrew, Arthur, and me to bring our trunks out to the car. I hopped up and quickly dragged mine out, followed by the two boys.

We all piled into the surprisingly roomy car, and Professor Longbottom drove off. It was obvious he wasn't used to driving, since he had to ask me what the red light meant, but we got to King's Cross Station safely anyway.

Professor Longbottom found a cart, and we loaded our trunks onto it. As we walked through the station, I glanced at my ticket.

 _Platform 9 3/4_

Whoa. Wait. What?

I stared up at the signs. There was 8...9...10. No 9 3/4. I turned to Professor Longbottom in confusion. "Where do we go?"

Andrew smiled. "Here, let's go ask the conductor!"

Before his parents could stop him, Andrew grabbed both Arthur's and my hands and pulled us over to one of the station employees, who looked at us uninterestedly. Until he saw the two owls sitting on top of our luggage. Then he gave us a weird, almost wary look. "What do you kids want?"

"Could you please direct us to platform nine and three quarters?" Andrew asked politely.

"Platform nine and..." the employee scrutinized us. "Look, kids, that joke is getting old. You and I both know there is no platform nine and three quarters. Stop wasting my time." We ran back to the Longbottoms, but I heard the employee muttering about "darned kids...every year...platform nine and three quarters..."

Professor Longbottom frowned at us. "Was that really necessary?"

"Definitely! Let's go!" Andrew turned and charged right into the brick wall between platforms nine and ten.

Only, he didn't run into it. It looked like he _just...melted_ into it.

Hannah smiled at my shocked look. "It's hidden from the muggles. Just walk right on through. You and Arthur go together."

Arthur offered me his hand, but I politely declined. I didn't need help. He shrugged and we walked side by side through the wall.

I gasped when we walked through. The brick wall had given way to another platform. A sign above my head called it "Platform 9 3/4." Andrew was waving at us excitedly a few yards away, and we quickly stepped out of the way as Professor Longbottom emerged from the wall, pushing the luggage cart. A few moments later, Hannah walked through, holding each twin tightly by the hand.

We crossed the platform to the train, and Professor Longbottom unloaded our trunks from the cart, setting them down on the ground at our feet. Hannah looked like she was in danger of crying as she first hugged Arthur, then Andrew, then, to my surprise, me. As she kissed Professor Longbottom goodbye, the twins gave me and Arthur a group hug, then Andrew squeezed his way into the hug too. He ran off to board the train after a minute.

Hannah gave Arthur and me one last hug, then made us board the train before it left. Arthur wiped at his eyes discreetly and I pretended not to notice.

We weren't really in any danger of being left, and we certainly weren't the last ones on. Arthur led me to an empty compartment, and we stared out the windows, watching other families say goodbye.

Right under our window, I spotted the Potters, and pointed them out to Arthur.

"Can you believe one of our professors is going to be Harry Potter?" Arthur said with awe.

"What's so special about him?"

Arthur gave me a "are you stupid?" look before turning back to the window.

I recognized the red-headed man with them from the joke shop yesterday, so he was either Albus's Uncle Ron or Uncle George. The brunette woman next to him, presumably his wife, was saying, "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"You're right, sorry," Ron/George said. Then he added, talking to the red-head girl at his side, "Don't get too friendly with them, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

So that was the infamous Rose Weasley. She had bushy red hair, and reminded me of Merida from Blaise's favorite movie, Brave. I noticed that Albus was keeping his distance from her.

"Hey!" James appeared. "Teddy's back there," he said breathlessly, pointing over his shoulder. "Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? _Snogging Victoire!"_ He gazed at the adults, apparently disappointed by their lack of reaction. _"Our_ Teddy! _Teddy Lupin!_ Snogging _our_ Victoire! _Our_ cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing-"

"You interrupted them?" Mrs. Potter asked. "You are so like Ron-"

"-and he told me to go away. He's _snogging_ her!"

Lily said something I couldn't hear, and I glanced at Arthur. "Is Teddy the one with blue hair?"

"I don't know, was it blue yesterday? It changes, Andrew says." Arthur kept his face pressed against the window.

"It's nearly eleven, we'd better get on board," I heard Professor Potter saying.

James laughed, then turned to Albus. "See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals."

"I thought they were invisible? _You said they were invisible!"_

James laughed again at Albus's horrorstruck look, then allowed his mother to kiss him before leaping onto the train. One second later he was standing at the door to our compartment.

"Hey Astra!" he called, waving merrily. I smiled and waved back, then he bounded off towards the front of the train.

When I turned back to the window, Albus and Rose were gone, and Mrs. Potter, Lily, and the Weasleys were waving to the train.

A few minutes later, Albus slid open the door to my compartment, obviously relieved to see a familiar face. He sank into the seat beside me. "Can you believe this is happening? Finally?"

"I don't know about finally. I didn't know about Hogwarts until three days ago," I said, shrugging.

Arthur beamed. "I can't wait. I hope I'm a Hufflepuff. Andrew is a Hufflepuff."

"I want to be in Gryffindor," Albus said. "And my dad says the sorting hat takes your choice into account, so that means I won't be in Slytherin!"

Before Arthur or I had time to answer, the compartment door slid open once again to admit a small dark-haired girl.

"Is this seat taken?" she asked, gesturing to the one next to Arthur. She had a very defined accent. Sounded American.

I shook my head. "Nope. Have it."

Albus stared at her. "What's up with your voice?"

She frowned indignantly. "Excuse you, my voice is perfectly fine."

I shook my head quickly, giving Albus a "what's wrong with you?" look. "He didn't mean it like that! He _meant,_ what's up with your accent? Are you American or something?"

"Oh." She relaxed. "Yeah. I'm American."

"Why are you going to Hogwarts, then?" Arthur asked curiously. "Don't they have wizarding schools in America?"

"Well...they do...but Hogwarts is the best in the world. My grandparents went here. Wanted me to, too. I'm Wren Predatel, by the way."

"Arthur Longbottom," Arthur said, smiling.

"Astra Lewis."

"Albus Severus Potter."

Wren's eyes widened. "Potter? Like, Harry Potter?"

"He's my dad," Albus said proudly.

I frowned. What on earth was so cool about Harry Potter? "Who's Harry Potter? I mean, he's your dad, obviously, but is he famous or something?"

My three companions gaped at me.

"You've never heard of Harry Potter?" Wren said finally.

I shook my head.

"Have you ever heard of Voldemort?" Albus asked.

I shook my head again.

"It's a _long_ story. Wanna hear?" Albus asked.

"Well, of course. And don't be so shocked. I was raised by muggles, after all."

"Well, it all started a long time ago, before even my dad was born, when Voldemort first rose to power," Albus began. He told me the whole story of how Voldemort was the most powerful dark wizard of the last century, and how his dad got his lightning scar, outwitted Voldemort six times while at school, then finally defeated him.

At the end, I understood why Wren and Arthur were so awed by him. "And he's going to be our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? Sounds like the best."

"He's going to be our _teacher?"_ Wren yelled, then clapped a hand over her mouth. "Sorry. But still, that's _so_ cool!"

The rest of the ride passed quickly. Wren, Arthur, and Albus were all nice, and Wren and Albus were really funny. At some point, Arthur went to go find Andrew, saying something about a new chocolate frog card. James found us not long after.

"Thought I'd find you in here, Al. Having fun with your new girlfriend?" he asked, indicating me.

"She is _not_ my girlfriend!" Albus said hotly.

"James, that's childish," I said, trying to act superior. I guess that doesn't work when the person you're trying to act superior to is half a head taller than you and laughing his head off.

We introduced him to Wren, and they hit it off immediately. Soon we were all doubled over laughing.

After a while, James pulled something out of his bag. "Look what I found in Dad's office-"

"You know we aren't allowed in Dad's office!" Albus hissed.

"Relax, he won't know it's gone." James showed us a blank piece of parchment.

"Wow...that's _really_ amazing, James. Blank paper. _So_ cool," I said sarcastically.

James rolled his eyes. "It's got to be magic, or it wouldn't be in a locked drawer."

"How'd you get it if it was in a locked drawer?" Wren asked suspiciously.

"Simple. Alohomora."

"We aren't allowed to use magic outside of school..." Wren said in the same tone.

"The Ministry probably thought it was Dad. Anyway, who cares? Let's try to figure out what this is."

"I know what it is," Albus piped up.

"Sure you do," James said sarcastically. "I'm being serious."

"Me too. I know what that is. I saw Dad using it when you started school."

"Well...fine. What does it do?"

Albus took the parchment from James, tapped it with his wand, and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

James laughed. "Awesome try, Al, but..." He trailed off as thin lines of ink began to spread like a spiderweb from the place where Albus had tapped it. They curled out into every corner of the parchment, and words began to blossom across the top. They read:

 _Messrs._ _Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs,_

 _Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Making, are proud to present:_

 ** _The Marauder's Map_**

"Whoa..." I breathed.

James looked ecstatic. "Do you know what this is?"

"No..." Wren said.

"It's a map of Hogwarts! Look, there's Headmistress McGonagall! And Hagrid! And Professor Flitwick! And they're moving!"

They were indeed. Tiny dots labelled with names were moving around the castle. Headmistress McGonagall was strolling down one of the corridors, Hagrid was walking from the castle towards the Forbidden Forest, and Professor Flitwick was pacing in the entry hall.

"This is amazing!" James breathed.

"I don't see how," Wren said, dosing us with reality. "If you're caught with that, I bet you'll get expelled."

"You're a first year, aren't you?" James asked her suddenly.

"Yeah," she said, shrugging. "So? Bet you're only a second year."

"He is," I said, and James sent a glare my way.

Turning back to Wren, he said, "Well, once we get to Hogwarts, you'll find that I'm notorious for pranking, mischief-making, and basically causing harmless trouble. I certainly know where to keep this out of harm."

"You don't need to," Albus said. "You can just turn it off."

"You can?" James frowned at the map.

"Yeah, like this." Albus tapped it again, and said, "Mischief managed!" The map appeared to wipe itself clean, like one of those toddler magnet drawing boards, where you slide the handle and it goes blank.

James stared in awe at the map. "This is amazing! Do you know what we could do with this?"

"Hopefully nothing against the rules," Wren said. Albus nodded.

James glanced at me. "Please tell me you're up for a little magical mischief-making?"

"As long as no one gets hurt," I said, shrugging.

James looked like he wanted to hug me, but restrained himself. "Well, anyway, see you guys at the feast. If you're in Gryffindor, at least." He hopped up and strode from the car, probably thinking of all the trouble he could cause with that map.

"Maybe I shouldn't have showed that to him..." Arthur said nervously.

"Relax, if he gets expelled, he gets expelled. Probably your dad will find him first," I said, trying to comfort him. Albus smiled brightly.

"Let's get our robes on," Wren said, staring out the window. "I think we're almost there."

 **Thank you to everyone who's reading this! It's so exciting to look and see how many people have read this, and where you're all from! India, Portugul, New Zealand, Australia, and, of course, America; the list goes on! Thank you all!**


	4. Chapter 4 - A Talking Hat

I stepped out of the train and into the cold night air. I couldn't see over the crowd of older students, and focused on trying to not lose Wren and Albus.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" a gruff voice called. The three of us pushed our way through the crowd of students to the source of the voice.

The voice belonged to the biggest man I've ever seen. His beard and hair looked shaggy and covered most of his face, but he was smiling cheerfully at us.

Albus bounced up and down, waving. "Hagrid!"

"All right there, Albus?"

Albus nodded, then turned to Wren and me. "That's Hagrid. He's really nice." _And really intimidating,_ I added in my head, staring up at the man who was five times my size.

"C'mon, follow me!" Hagrid called, leading us off the platform and down a steep, narrow path. I glanced around at my classmates as we stumbled through the dark, lit only by Hagrid's lantern.

I spotted the Malfoy twins ahead of me, and a bobbing head of ginger hair to my right that I recognized as Rose Weasley. Arthur Longbottom caught me looking at him and waved. The two dark-skinned girls next to me looked identical, so I guessed that the Malfoys weren't the only twins. Another blonde girl right behind smiled at me with a kind of dreamy look. I wondered if she was completely sane.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid told us. "Jus' round this bend here."

Everyone gasped as we rounded the bend. A huge black lake stretched before us, and perched atop a hill at the other side was a huge castle. It had many turrets and towers, and many of the windows were lit up. I stared in awe for a full minute before Wren dragged me over to one of the boats.

Albus, Wren and I clambered into one of the boats followed by the dreamy blonde girl.

"Everyone in?" Hagrid shouted. "Right then - FORWARD!" The boats took off.

At once, the fleet of boats sped off over the lake. Everyone silently stared at the rapidly-nearing castle.

The boats rode through a curtain of ivy, and we were carried along a dark tunnel. Finally, we reached a dock, and we all climbed onto the shore. Hagrid led us up a passageway and out into the open air. We followed him up a flight of steps to the huge front doors.

Waiting in the entrance hall was Professor Longbottom. He smiled at us as Hagrid said, "Firs' years, Professor Longbottom."

"Thank you, Hagrid. First years, this way!"

Professor Longbottom led us through the entrance hall. I could hear hundreds of voices from a doorway that we passed, so the rest of school was already there. Professor Longbottom showed us into a small room off the hall.

"Welcome to Hogwarts!" he said warmly. "The start-of-term banquet will begin in a few minutes, but before you take your seats, you'll be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is very important because while you're here at Hogwarts, your House will be your honorary family. You'll have your classes with your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend your free time in your House common room.

"The four Houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history and each had produced outstanding witches and wizards."

Albus whispered, "All the 'outstanding' witches and wizards from Slytherin are dark wizards."

"That is not true," hissed a girl behind us. I whipped my head around to see Ciara Malfoy glaring at us. Quickly, I turned back toward the professor.

"-will be a credit to whichever House you are sorted into." Professor Longbottom had been speaking the whole time. "The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I'll be back in just a few minutes."

Wren grabbed my hand, looking nervous. "What if it doesn't work? And we don't get sorted into any House?"

"We'll be fine, Wren," Albus said. "Bet we all get in Gryffindor. James said that the Sorting Hat has never not worked."

"It's a hat?" Wren asked. Several other kids were listening by now.

"Yeah," Albus said, warming up to his audience. "You sit on a stool in front of everyone, and put it on your head, and it calls out whichever House you're best for!"

"Wait, the hat talks?" Ciara said, scoffing. "Yeah, right. You're just trying to get attention, Potter."

"Just watch and see," he said loftily.

The dreamy girl from the boat piped up, "I believe you. My brothers told me about it."

"If it was a talking hat, my dad would have told us," Ciara said hotly.

"Just shut up!" I yelled. "You'll see if it's a talking hat in a minute! Shut up!"

Professor Longbottom returned a few minutes later and made us get in a line. Albus and Wren were in front of me, and Ciara Malfoy was right behind, which neither of us seemed happy about. We marched out of the chamber and through a pair of large doors into the Great Hall.

Immediately, my jaw dropped. Thousands of candles floated around the huge room, and high above my head was a ceiling that looked like the night sky. It felt like there wasn't a roof. Four long tables of students watched our progress up to the front of the room, where we came to a halt facing the other students in front of the long table where the teachers were sitting. Hundreds of faces stared at us, and the room was completely silent.

Professor Longbottom silently placed a stool in front of us. The legs of it hitting the floor sounded incredibly loud in the quiet. On top of the stool sat an old, patched wizard's hat.

The hat twitched. Then a rip near the brim opened like a mouth and the hat began to sing. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ciara's mouth drop open.

 _"I may be old and ugly,_

 _But don't judge me by my looks._

 _The things I know, they could_

 _Really fill a thousand books._

 _You want to know where you belong?_

 _Then you can come to me!_

 _I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat,_

 _As you can plainly see!_

 _I'll see all that you hold dear,_

 _And gauge how you react._

 _To put you in the perfect House_

 _Is my favorite task!_

 _Perhaps_ _you'll be in Gryffindor,_

 _Where the students are quite brave._

 _They value daring, nerve, and chivalry,_

 _And bravery they crave!_

 _Or maybe you'll be in Hufflepuff,_

 _For they are loyal and true._

 _Patient and hardworking,_

 _Perhaps this sounds like you?_

 _Perhaps you'll reside in Ravenclaw_ _,_

 _Where those who value learning_

 _And wit and wisdom and creativity_

 _Find their passion burning._

 _Finally, there's Slytherin!_

 _Perhaps you belong there._

 _Those with cunning and with pride_

 _Find a home in Slytherin's lair._

 _To find out where you do belong_

 _Is a simple task, just start!_

 _Just put me on and you will see_

 _Which House deserves your heart!_

All of the students burst into applause and the hat bowed to each table, then became still again, almost like nothing had happened.

"See?" I whispered to Ciara, "Albus was right." She frowned at me but didn't say anything.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and be sorted," Professor Longbottom called. "Ashton, Caleb!"

A black-haired boy stumbled toward the stool, put on the hat (which fell right over his eyes) and sat down. Barely a moment passed before the hat screeched, "RAVENCLAW!"

A very relieved-looking Caleb sat down at the Ravenclaw table to thunderous applause from his housemates.

"Bones, Trilia."

"SLYTHERIN," the hat shouted, and Trilia ran over to the Slyhtherin table.

"Brown, Iris!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Castel, Luke," went to Gryffindor, too. "Dopley, Harriet," was a Hufflepuff, and "Eaton, Jackson," was a Ravenclaw.

The line shrunk as students tried on the hat and scampered off to join their house. Wren looked like she was on the verge of a panic attack, and I probably wasn't much better.

Finally, "Lewis, Astra!"

I stepped forward and dropped the hat on my head.

"Hmm," a small voice said. I almost fell off the stool before I realized it was the hat. "Difficult," it said. "Plenty of courage. Very cunning. Good mind, too, and talent. Where shall we put you?"

I sat frozen, thinking one thought over and over, _Not Slytherin,_ _not Slytherin, I don't want to be with the Malfoys._

"Not Slytherin? Are you sure? You could be great. No? Well, if you're sure. Better be GRYFFINDOR!"

The last word was shouted to the whole hall. I slipped off the stool and ran to the cheering Gryffindor table, slipping into the seat next to Iris Brown. She smiled at me, then turned her attention back to the Sorting.

Arthur got sorted into Hufflepuff, and he did a little victory dance on the way to his table. One of the twin girls I'd seen earlier, "Macmillian, Lacy," was sent to Gryffindor, and her twin, "Macmillian, Leah," became a Hufflepuff.

"Malfoy, Ciara."

Surprisingly, the hat took a full two minutes on her. Finally, it opened its crease and shouted, "SLYTHERIN!"

It took an even longer time on Scorpius, but finally decided on "SLYTHERIN," as well.

"Parkinson, Elizabeth," became a Ravenclaw, then Professor Longbottom called, "Potter, Albus!"

Albus slowly walked up to the stool. I could see him muttering something, and I had a feeling I knew what he was saying, too. The hat didn't take long on him, however. "GRYFFINDOR!"

James's cheers were the loudest, and he thumped his brother on the back as Albus sat down next to us. "Thank goodness that's over."

We both whipped our heads around as the next name was called. "Predatel, Wren."

Wren was visibly shaking as she walked to the stool. Professor Longbottom had to help her onto it. To make things worse, the hat took longer than it had on anyone else. Finally, though, it called, "GRYFFINDOR!" Wren walked over slowly and sank into the seat between Albus and me. I heard the people around me muttering about how Wren was almost a hatstall, whatever that was.

Slowly the line dwindled to almost nothing. The weird, dreamy blonde girl, "Scamander, Luna," was put in Ravenclaw. At last, it was just Rose Weasley and one other girl. "Waylin, Marie," was sent to Ravenclaw, then Rose walked up to take the hat.

"GRYFFINDOR!" it yelled the moment the hat touched her head. Albus groaned, but that was covered up by the cheers from the rest of our table. Wren was finally looking less sick.

An older woman in the middle of the table stood up. "Welcome!" she called. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!" She flicked her wand, and immediately, the golden plates on the tables that had been empty a moment ago were filled with food.

"That was Headmistress McGonagall," James told me as he loaded his plate with roast beef.

At last, when we had eaten our fill, the food disappeared and Professor McGonagall stood up. "I have a few announcements before you go to your dormitories," she said, her voice ringing through the silent hall. "First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to remind you that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors."

"No one ever pays attention to that," James whispered.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch." She paused, let the excited whispers die down, then continued, "Now, goodnight! Don't be caught in the halls after curfew!"

A tall brunette girl with a prefect badge who James called Jaycee Bell stood up from our table and told the first years to follow her. She wound her way out of the Great Hall, up a marble staircase, and through several corridors and up flights of steps. Finally, we stopped at a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink dress.

"Password?" she asked, and I started. The painting was talking. Only one other boy seemed alarmed by this, Luke Castel.

"Alarte Ascendare," Jaycee said firmly, and the painting swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. We crawled through and found ourselves in the Gryffindor common room.

Jaycee led the first year girls to our dormitory, and I promptly fell asleep.

The next morning, Wren woke me up by slapping me in the face with my own pillow. Lacy Macmillian and Iris Brown were standing behind her, giggling. Rose was already gone.

"Wake up, sleepyhead, unless you don't want breakfast," Wren said, then whacked me again for good measure.

I sat up and tried to wrench my pillow out of her hands, but she jumped backward, out of my reach. I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Just be warned: I'm not a morning person." Lacy and Iris giggled again, then ran out the door and down the stairs, leaving Wren and me alone.

I threw on some clothes and followed Wren out to the common room. Albus and James were sitting with a red-headed girl (another Weasley? How many were there?) who I think as a second year.

"Hi, I'm Roxanne," she said merrily when we walked up. "Albus and James's cousin."

"Wren Predatel and Astra Lewis," James said, pointing to each of us in turn.

"Nice to meet you. Wish I could stay and talk, but I really should get downstairs. I think Kenzie is waiting for me." With that, she hopped up and climbed through the portrait hole.

"Don't you have friends?" I asked James, when he didn't follow.

"That's not very nice, Astra," he said. "Really, I thought you'd be the good kid of this group."

I raised my eyebrows. "Me? Really? If anyone is, it's Wren. And I didn't mean it like that, I just thought you'd have your own friends and wouldn't want to hang out with us."

James shrugged. "I'm actually the only Gryffindor second year who's a boy, besides Marcus Dillingham and Colin Creevey, and everyone knows they think I'm annoying. Lots of Hufflepuffs last year. I mostly hung out with Fred and Louis last year, but now I'll crash your party."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Wren said sympathetically.

"Sorry? Why?" James laughed. "Everyone except my roommates love me!"

"Especially Mackenzie Walker," Albus said, wiggling his eyebrows.

James immediately flushed. "What? No! How would you even know that?"

"You talk in your sleep," Albus said, shrugging.

I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, can we go get breakfast? I'm starving."

James led us down to the Great Hall, muttering about "stupid brothers" and "stupid Kenzie" and "stupid sleep."

As we sat down, a loud fluttering noise caught my attention. I looked up to see a great flock of owls flying through the windows. The owls flew around the room, found who they were looking for, and settled down in front of that person. Albus got a letter from his mom and Lily, which he was careful to hide before James saw. I don't think James would have said anything, though, because he was busy hiding his own letter from their mom.

As we ate, Professor Potter walked around passing out our schedules. "He's the head of our house," Albus whispered importantly.

"We have Herbology with the Hufflepuffs first," Wren said. "That's taught by Professor Longbottom. Then transfiguration with Ravenclaw. Professor Patil teaches that. Then double potions with the Slytherins."

"Oh, wow, I feel sorry for you guys," James cut in. "Professor Sulcan teaches that, and he's awful. Hates Gryffindor. Loves Slytherin."

I glanced at Albus, and he was looking back at me. That teacher sounded bad, but what was worse was two hours of class with Ciara and Scorpius Malfoy.

 **If you are wondering - yes, I wrote the Sorting Hat Song myself. It's not my best; the ones in the later books will definitely be better. But I did write it myself and I'm happy with the result. Thanks for reading and leaving a review!**


	5. Chapter 5 - How to Get a Concussion

Wren spent most of lunch reading through a book she had brought from home, _Various Useful Spells in School._ She kept excitedly telling us about this or that enchantment, or how this spell would make the victim sing, or if you waved your wand this way and said "Colloshoo," the victim's shoes would be glued to the ground. She wouldn't let James try that one on anyone.

After lunch, James caught up to us on the way to Potions. He pulled us off into an empty classroom.

"What is it?" I asked, annoyed. I'd been hearing bad reports about Professor Sulcan all day and the last thing I wanted was to be late to his class.

"Quidditch trials are a week from Saturday!"

"What's Quidditch?" I asked blankly.

Wren, Albus, and James all stared at me.

"What do you mean, 'what's Quidditch'?" James hissed.

"I mean: I do not know what this 'Quidditch' you speak of is. Please enlighten me."

James, still staring at me like I was crazy, quickly explained the game. The largest ball, a red Quaffle, could be thrown by the Chasers through one of three hoops to score ten points for your team. The Keepers guarded the goals. The Bludgers were hit at opposing players by the Beaters. The Seeker spent his time searching for the Golden Snitch. If he caught that, the game was over and his team was awarded 150 points. And all of this happened on flying brooms fifty feet above the ground.

"All right," I said when he finished. "So?"

"Tryouts are a week from Saturday!" he repeated.

"So? I can't fly. Can I go?"

James glanced at Albus, who smiled. "We'll teach you! It's not hard, really. James, can you help us train? Maybe we can all get on the team. There's five open spots this year, right?"

James nodded. "Sound good, girls?"

"First years can't own their own brooms," Wren pointed out.

"You can use a school broom."

"I'm not very good..." Wren said stubbornly.

"Surely you're better than me," I said, smiling.

"I..." Wren looked around at us, then looked down and mumbled something.

"What?" James tapped the top of her head. "Speak up."

"I'm afraid of heights!"

Albus stared at her. "You _are?"_

She nodded and crossed her arms. "And you are _not_ making me ride a broom."

"All right, all right!" James said, putting his hands up. "You can just watch. You want to, Astra?"

"Sure," I said, shrugging. There was no way I'd learn in time to get on the team, but it couldn't hurt to try.

"Ok," James said. "I mean, you guys'll have flying lessons later, but it won't be in time for tryouts, and if you want to be on the team, you have to know how to fly, obvious-"

"We need to get to class!" Wren shrieked, looking at her watch. Albus stared at her. I felt myself go white.

James was the only one with a working mind, apparently. He shoved us out the door. "Run!"

We streaked down the almost empty halls, pounding through corridors and down stairs. We flung ourselves into our seats just as Professor Sulcan walked in. He gave our disheveled appearances a raised eyebrow but seemed to ignore it. Ciara Malfoy smirked at me.

Potions was awful. Completely and utterly awful. Professor Sulcan immediately took a disliking to me, taking five points from Gryffindor because I accidentally added five horned slugs instead of four to my Cure for Boils. I was about to say something incredibly rude when Wren and Albus both kicked me under the table.

Ciara Malfoy was, of course, his star student, though in my opinion Rose Weasley did a much better job on her potion than she did. Rose actually had pink smoke rising from her cauldron, while Ciara's was more of a sickly orange color.

After Potions, we didn't bother with putting our things away. Albus led the way outside to the Quidditch pitch.

When we walked in, I scanned the ground for James, but didn't see him. At first, I assumed we had gotten there before him, but then I heard a whoop high above me. I looked up to see James flying upside down and laughing his head off.

When he saw us, he quickly landed a few yards away. Wren took a seat in the stands as James led us over to two waiting brooms.

"That looks dangerous," I said immediately.

James gave me a weird look. "Really, Astra, I'd have thought you wouldn't care about that..."

"I don't fancy getting a concussion, thank you very much."

James grinned. "That's a great name! Welcome to How To Get A Concussion, taught by yours truly." He bowed, and Albus clapped.

I rolled my eyes. "Promise I won't get a concussion?"

"You'll be perfectly fine, Astra. Come on!"

James motioned to the brooms. "These won't be as fast as mine," he explained, "because the school brooms are all Nimbus 8000s, and mine is a Lightsweep, one of the fastest there is, but that's all right. Probably best that you start on a slower one," he told me.

I nodded. Albus reached his hand out and his broom flew into it. He mounted it and whizzed off. I heard Wren's scream as Albus almost crashed into her, but he lifted at the last second and soared high into the air. I looked back at James as Albus started taking laps around the stands.

"What do I do?"

"Ok, you stand next to your broomstick," James said, demonstrating as he talked. "Stick your right hand out over your broom and say 'Up!'" James's broomstick flew into his hand. "Don't be disappointed if it doesn't work the first time, Astra. Albus and I are pretty good for our age, really, so you can't expect to be doing loop-de-loops and everything. Flying is in our blood, so don't be disappointed if you don't get it the first time."

I nodded, not really listening. I was concentrating on my broomstick. I stretched my hand out and said confidently, "Up!" The broomstick flew into my hand. I was so surprised that I fell over.

James stared at me in shock, then grinned, holding a hand out to help me up. "That was great! Now try again, and see if you can stay on your feet."

I tried several more times, and each time the broom seemed to get a bit easier to manage. Finally, James decided I was ready to mount it. He demonstrated it very slowly.

"Got it?"

"I think so..." I mounted my broom, which wasn't as hard as James made it out to be.

Janes clapped. "Nice. Ready to kick off and fly around a bit?"

"I guess so..." I said slowly.

"Ok. When I say go, kick off, fly up a couple of feet, then come back down. Keep yourself steady. Ok? Three...two...one...go!"

I kicked off the ground hard and flew up a few feet. It was amazing, being up in the air. James nodded encouragingly. "Nice! Want to come down, or fly some?"

As an answer, I took off around the stands. An exhilarating rush of joy spread through me. This was awesome! It was easy and perfectly _wonderful!_ Albus gaped as me as I soared past him, and I heard James shouting, "She's a natural!" I had more fun that afternoon than I'd ever had in my life.

* * *

We _did_ have flying lessons later that week, and Albus and I had a good laugh afterwards at the shocked and slightly offended look on Ciara's face when we both turned out to be "gifted fliers," in Madam Hooch's opinion. Scorpius surprised both of us by congratulating us.

Wren was a huge failure on her broom, the one thing she seemed to have trouble with at Hogwarts. She ended up having a panic attack while in the air and Madam Hooch had to rush her off to the hospital wing for a calming potion, with a warning that if anyone so much as touched a broom while she was gone, we could kiss Hogwarts goodbye.

" _I_ am going to tryout for my House Quidditch team," Ciara announced haughtily.

"Bet you don't get on," Eric Finnigan said. He was another Gryffindor first year.

"Yeah," Albus added, "it's been twenty-six years since a first year got on a House Quidditch team, and that was my dad."

Ciara rolled her eyes. "I'd like to see you get on."

"Maybe he will," I said hotly.

"Ciara..." Scorpius pleaded, "can't you come off it?"

"At least his dad got on from pure talent. Your dad had to buy his way onto the team when he was in school," Iris Brown said, talking over Scorpius.

Another Slytherin boy, Nico Jasper, scoffed. "And did either of your parents play Quidditch, Brown?"

Iris flushed. "No...not exactly..."

"Not exactly," Nico repeated, in a high falsetto voice. All right, that was enough of that.

"Shut up, Nico," I said steadily.

He smirked at me. "Make me."

I raised my wand and shouted, "Colloshoo!" before Nico even had time to take his out. His face paled as he tried to move his feet but couldn't. Most of the Gryffindors doubled over laughing.

Everyone froze as a stern voice behind us said, "Miss Lewis, what on earth do you think you're doing?"

Nico snickered as I turned to see Professor Patil, our Transfiguration teacher. I slowly lowered my wand. "Nothing..."

"I think you need to come with me, all right?" she said. I stiffly nodded and followed her inside, trying to ignore the snickering from the Slytherins.

* * *

Professor Patil sighed as she sat down begins her desk. "Astra, you do realize that hexing other students is against the rules, don't you?"

"But he was-"

"I'm not interested in what he was doing right now. We're talking about you."

I sighed and looked down. "Yes ma'am, I know..."

"I'm going to have to take five points from Gryffindor, but I won't give you detention this time, all right? I'll let you off with a warning." I nodded, still studying my shoes. "All right, you may return to your lesson."

By the time I reached the Quidditch pitch, though, the lessons were over. Wren and Albus were sitting in the stands, waiting for me. On the field, Madam Hooch and Professor Sulcan were trying to pry Nico's shoes off the ground. He kept sending pointed glared in my direction.

"That wasn't smart, Astra," Wren said the moment I sat down. "What if you had said it wrong? And someone got hurt?"

"I knew what I was doing," I lied. The truth was, I had had no idea what I was doing. I just raised my wand and said the first thing that popped into my head. Wren didn't need to know that, though.

"Wait till James hears about it," Albus said, laughing. "I never could have done that."

"Sure you could have!"

"Not that you _should,"_ Wren said firmly. "You're lucky you didn't get detention."

I shrugged. "Next time I'll make sure I don't have any witnesses."

Wren sighed. "I give up, you're hopeless."

"I'll take that as a compliment," I said sweetly, as Wren rolled her eyes.

* * *

Saturday, James decided that I'd had enough practice flying, and that what Albus and I needed was Quidditch practice. He had us practice all four of the positions all afternoon, and had Wren judge which ones we were best at.

I was a terrible Keeper. I had a tendency to overestimate where the Quaffle would soar past me, and often would zoom away and leave an opening. Albus wasn't much better.

As a Beater, both of us failed. Albus had a hard time lifting the bat to hit the Bludgers, and my aim with it was terrible. There's a reason I never excelled at softball.

Albus really was best as a Chaser. He was good at ducking and spinning to avoid the Bludgers, and he managed to get the Quaffle though the goals a lot. I was average - nothing special, but not overly bad.

The place I really shined was as a Seeker. All I really had to do was keep my eyes open for the Golden Snitch and make sure I didn't get hit by flying Bludgers or players. Once I saw the Snitch, I just had to catch it, which wasn't very hard at all for me.

The days sped by and finally it was the morning of tryouts. Albus was too excited to eat his breakfast, and all around us our Housemates seemed just as excited. There had never been this many openings on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Ryan Ham, the captain, was sitting at the end of the table with the only other remaining team member, Jaycee Bell, a fifth year.

After breakfast, what seemed like the whole House made its way to the Quidditch pitch. Half of the students took places in the stands to cheer on their friends, but about forty students were milling about on the field when Ryan and Jaycee walked out of locker room in their scarlet and gold Quidditch robes. Immediately, all the talking ceased. Every eye was trained on Ryan.

"Well," he said loudly, "let's start! Could you please all group into sections based on what position you play? Chasers over here, Beaters there, Seekers, Keepers. Ok?" Everyone shuffled around, moving to show their different positions.

"Great," Ryan said, once we'd all stopped moving. "As most of you know, at the moment only Jaycee and I at left on the team. Since we both play Chasers, we'll only need one more person to play that position." The largest group, made up of about twenty potential Chasers, groaned. Albus glanced at me, a bit paler than normal, and I have him a thumbs up. He was the smallest boy trying out for Chaser, I could see why he was nervous.

I looked around at my competition for Seeker. There were a few older students, and a boy who looked like he might be a third year. Five of us in all. I was the smallest, like Albus, but this time that was to my advantage, according to James. The smaller a Seeker was, the harder it would be to hit him with a Bludger and knock him out of the game. Really comforting.

Ryan had all the potential Keepers, eight hopeful fourth and fifth years, go first. Most of them were incredibly good, but only two managed to block the Quaffle every time Jaycee and Ryan threw it. Drake Wood and Connor O'Bryan were told to wait while the rest were sent up to the stands.

The tryouts for the Beaters came next. James was outstanding, along with one of his cousins, Fred Weasley, and a girl named Mackenzie Walker, the one that James apparently had a crush on.

The Chasers were given a chance after that. Albus did fairly well, but some of the older kids did better. He was sent back to the stands in favor of Brooke Hall, Caroline Long, Patrick Shaw, or Noah Cartly.

Finally, the Seekers were given a chance. Jeremiah Hogan, a sixth year, went first. He did fairly well, finally catching the Snitch after several minutes. There were several opportunities when he could have gotten it before then, though, if he'd just been paying attention. Kristina Murray and Loretta Clayton were both only average.

Allen Bowen, the third year, went next, and he was incredible. Definitely a tough act to follow. He caught the Snitch in five minutes. That's about when I started getting nervous.

Ryan called for me to try, and I mounted my broom, trying not to tremble. _You'll do fine. You were good when you practiced,_ I told myself. _Just forget about the crowd._

I soared into the air, and Jaycee released the Snitch, which immediately zoomed out of sight. She and Ryan zoomed into the air as well, along with two of the potential Beaters, James and Fred. They did their best to act like it was a real game, making sure the Bludgers were sent in my direction several times. Each time, I easily dodged, scanning the air with all my might for the Snitch.

There it was. The golden orb was hovering near the middle goalpost to my right. I immediately dived towards it. It zoomed off, but I was right on its tail. Stretching...just a little farther... My fingertips brushed it...

I heard Wren, Albus, and James's excited cheering as my hand closed around the Snitch. I raised my closed fist up in the air, and Jaycee and Ryan both flew up to me, stunned looks on their faces.

"Lewis, do you know how quickly you caught that? After you'd seen it?" Ryan asked. I shook my head. Was it too long? "Twenty seconds. _Twenty seconds!"_

My mouth dropped open.

"Welcome to the team!" Jaycee squealed, then hugged me, almost pulling me off my broom.

As soon as my feet touched the ground, Wren and Albus tackled me with a hug. "You did it!" Albus yelled excitedly.

Jaycee laughed. "Congrats! Now just hang tight until Ryan finishes choosing, all right? That was amazing, Astra!"

I sat in a kind of daze as tryouts continued. I didn't come back to reality until the new team sat assembled in front of me. James was beaming proudly at me clutching his new Beater's club. His cousin Fred stood beside him, equally excited. The new Keeper was Drake Wood, who kept going on and on about how his dad would be so proud. His dad had been a Gryffindor Quidditch captain. The newest Chaser was a nice-looking fourth year named Caroline Long.

"So," Ryan said loudly, getting all of us to look at him. "This is the team this year. You're all really good, so I think we stand a good chance at winning the Quidditch Cup this year, as long as we practice and play hard. First practice is Tuesday night, so make sure you don't have detention!"

In the common room that night, several people came up and congratulated me on making the Quidditch team. They all seemed surprised that I was so young, which got a bit old after the third person. It was fun seeing their faces when I told them I hadn't even been riding for two weeks.

The best part was that Ciara Malfoy, despite all her boasting, didn't make her House's team. At breakfast on Sunday I caught her glowering at me every few minutes. I made sure to smile sweetly and wave whenever I did.

 **Thank you all for reading this far! It's so exciting to see all the reads! Thank you all, and don't forget to review!**


	6. Chapter 6 - Curfews are Just Suggestions

During dinner on Monday, Ciara still seemed as jealous as ever. She and two other Slytherins, Trilia Bones and Nico Jasper, all looked murderous.

Albus, Wren, and I left the Great Hall a bit earlier than normal to start on a six inch essay for Transfiguration that was due Thursday. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ciara, Trilia, and Nico get up as we walked through the doors, and and subconsciously increased my pace.

Somehow, the trio of Slytherins caught up with us in an empty corridor. I whirled around and pulled out my wand, but Ciara pointed her wand at me and yelled, "Stupefy!"

I flew into a wall, but quickly the stunning sensation faded. All I felt was pain coursing through my head where it had connected with a windowsill. My vision was a bit blurry as well.

Before I could get up, Ciara was standing in front of me. She pulled me to my feet and shoved me back against the wall, making pain sear through my skull.

Trilia and Nico blocked Wren and Albus from running in to my rescue, not that they looked like they really wanted to, but they made a valiant effort trying wriggle past the two Slytherins. Nico and Trilia were too quick, though. They grabbed both of my friends and pinned their arms behind them.

"What spell did you use?" Ciara asked me, glaring at me.

"What?"

"You know exactly what I mean! You had to have used some sort of spell to get onto the Quidditch team. What was it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I hissed, ignoring the pain in my head. "I got in on talent alone."

"Did you confund the captain?" she asked, pointing her wand at me casually. "Or maybe you used a spell on the Snitch? What did you do?"

"Nothing!" I shouted, reaching for my own wand.

Ciara grabbed my arm and twisted it away from my wand, upwards. Pain shot through my arm, and I gasped. "Let go!"

"Tell me what you did!"

"NOTHING!"

Ciara pointed her wand at my chest. "Impedi-"

"PROTEGO!"

Ciara was thrown backward several feet, and looked stunned for a few seconds. I turned towards the others to see Wren holding her wand out, looking just as shocked as everyone else.

"What was that for?" Ciara asked, dusting off her robes, looking a bit unsteady. "I wasn't really going to hex her!"

"Well now you can't, even if you weren't, because that was a shield charm," Wren said shakily. Trilia didn't move as Wren slipped out of her grasp and quickly stepped over to Albus. Nico quickly let him go, backing away a few steps. Wren grinned weakly at me. "Let's go." We walked up the stairs, but as soon was we were out of sight, we broke into a run.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Albus panted as we stumbled through the portrait hole into the safe territory of the Gryffindor common room.

Wren shrugged. "I've seen a lot of people do it, so I decided to try," she said, somewhat evasively. "Couldn't hurt, right?"

"It was perfect!" I exclaimed. Wren smiled hopefully.

"You really think so?"

"Yeah," Albus said, "you were great!"

"Maybe Ciara will leave us alone..." Wren said wistfully.

I rolled my eyes. "Like that'll happen. Hey, where was Scorpius, though? I thought the Malfoy twins were a packaged deal."

Before either of my friends could answer, a commotion behind me distracted us. We turned to see Rose Weasley standing over a pile of apparently dropped books. Her cheeks were flaming red, almost the same color as her hair.

"You ok?" Wren asked kindly, walking over to help pick the books up.

Rose quickly nodded. "F-fine. I'm fine." She shooed Wren away, saying, "I don't need help!"

"Oh, all right," Wren said quietly. It was obvious she was a bit hurt, and for a moment Rose looked like she was trying to think of a way to fix that. She ended up just piling her books up and quickly walking away.

"What was that about?" I asked, after she'd disappeared through the door to our dorm.

Albus shrugged. "Who knows?"

I shrugged as well. No big deal. "What were we talking about?"

"I don't know," Wren said, obviously not paying much attention. "What's James doing?"

James was bent over a parchment at a secluded table in the corner of the room. Every so often he would glance over his shoulder like he didn't want anyone to see what he was doing. Incredibly suspicious.

I silently padded over to him, followed by my friends. We surrounded his chair, then I loudly said, "Whatchya doing?"

James jumped, muttered something, and quickly tried to covered the parchment. We started laughing as he caught sight of Wren and relaxed. "Gosh, don't scare me like that!"

"Was that the Marauder's Map?" I asked. I had caught a glimpse of moving dots.

James nodded. "Now if you'll excuse m-"

"What were you doing?" I asked innocently.

"Nothing," he said evasively. James tried to scoot around me, but I stepped in front of him.

"I could just tell your dad about th-" I started, but he quickly cut me off.

"Keep your voice down! No one else knows about this map!"

"Tell me what you were doing then."

Albus grinned. "You were watching Mackenzie, weren't you?"

James flushed. "What? No! You can just shut up about that!"

Wren smiled understandingly. "It's ok, we won't tell her."

Albus said, "You won-"

"Neither will you!" Wren said fiercely, turning on him.

Albus out his hands up. "All right, all right!"

James sighed. "Maybe I was, but it's none of your business."

"Ok, fine then." I shrugged, turning to walk away.

"Astra!" James grabbed my arm, pulling me to a halt. "What happened?" I felt his hand on the back of my head, where it had hit the wall. I winced as I turned back to meet James's worried eyes.

"Ciara Malfoy...she used that stunning spell on me, and I flew into a wall." I had forgotten about that, somehow, but I could still feel the dull throbbing.

"You need to go see Madam Pomfrey," James said, concern showing in his brown eyes.

I didn't really want to go to the hospital wing, but Wren and James insisted, and Albus looked too alarmed about the seriousness of my insignificant injury to even speak, so I agreed to go. They raced me through the castle, ducking and dodging around students and ghosts and Peeves the proltergeist. In five minutes I was sitting on a bed in the hospital wing with Madam Pomfrey fussing over me like a mother hen. I wasn't badly hurt, and the gash wasn't very deep; a simple spell fixed it. However, it was only with great pleading that she agreed to let me spend the night in my own dorm, as opposed to the hospital wing, and only on the condition that I "go to bed early and don't do anything dangerous, boisterous, or anything active at all." Basically, spend the evening sitting in a chair doing absolutely nothing.

Back in the common room, Wren forced me into one of the chairs by the fireplace, and Wren and Albus settled themselves near me. James disappeared at some point. Soon, several other Gryffindor first and second years had joined us.

They made me recount the tale of my head injury at least ten times, and Wren was hailed as a hero for stupefying Ciara. Malfoy was a hated name in Gryffindor. Eventually, the talk turned to our families.

"I'm named after my uncle," Colin Creevey (who didn't seem to have anything against James at all, from what I could tell) said proudly. "He died in the Battle of Hogwarts."

"So did my aunt," Iris Brown piped up.

Luke Castel sighed. "I'm not related to anyone who fought. Being muggleborn really stinks sometimes."

"It's not that bad," a second year girl, Lillie Collins said. "I'm muggleborn too. And so is Astra. We don't mind, do we?" I shook my head.

"At least we aren't Malfoys," Lillie continued, drawing a laugh out of most of the students.

Lacy Macmillian nodded eagerly. "My dad was in Draco Malfoy's year, and he says that Mr. Malfoy actually used the m-word. All the time!"

Roxanne nodded sagely. "He called my Aunt Hermione that. Right, Albus?" Albus nodded his agreement.

Eric Finnigan frowned. "My dad remembers that. And that Mr. Malfoy was a Death Eater."

"I'm glad I'm not related to any Death Eaters," Mackenzie said. "My parents wanted to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts, but they were only fifth years, so they weren't old enough."

The clock on the wall tolled eleven, and the huddle of students started drifting off to bed. Finally, all that were left by the fire were me, Albus, and Wren.

I was about to suggest we go to bed as well, because we were the youngest ones left in the common room, when James stumbled through the portrait hole.

"Guys! Guys! I have a way to get Ciara back!" he called breathlessly.

"Oh, really?" I couldn't keep the skepticism out of my tone. How on earth would we get revenge on her now? She was probably tucked away in the Slytherin common room by now, since it was past curfew.

"Where were you?" Wren asked, glanced between James and the portrait hole.

"Out," he said simply. "Anyway, I convinced her to meet us in the trophy room tonight for a wizard's duel. It'll be easy, since I'm a second year, and I know more spells than her. I'll just disarm her."

"Amazing plan," I said sarcastically, "but how is that revenge? Wouldn't I have to fight her, anyway?"

"You didn't let me finish! Of course you'd have to fight her, right, just use Expelliarmus. Anyway, after the wizard's duel, we get out of there as fast as possible. You see, I tipped off Professor Longbottom that I heard Ciara and her friends talking about sneaking up to the trophy room at midnight, but I told him that it'd be about twenty minutes after I told Ciara to meet us there. He'll catch her and her little friends out after curfew!"

"What if they don't show up?" I asked.

"Are you seriously considering this?" Wren hissed to me.

"We'll get in so much trouble!" Albus added.

James shrugged. "All right, you two stay here."

"You aren't allowed to go!"

"Oh really?" James asked, grinning. "Victoire!" He ran over to a tall blonde girl, who I sort of recognized as a Weasley.

"Victoire, are we allowed out after curfew?"

Victoire shrugged. "As long as you don't lose points for Gryffindor and aren't planning a prank to pull on Teddy and me, I don't care what you do."

James swaggered back to us triumphantly. "See? And Victoire's a prefect, so she would know."

"James! This plan has so many holes in it anyway," Wren stated. "What if they don't show up? What if Professor Longbottom comes early? What if they leave before he gets there? What if he finds us?"

James held up the Marauder's Map. "No one is going to catch us. I know where everyone is."

"I don't know..." Wren said slowly.

"If they don't show, we come back. Simple."

"What if they told a teacher?" Albums asks, his voice quavering.

"Then we won't let them catch us. This map has all the secret passageways and shortcuts lined out. We will be fine. Who's coming?"

My hand shot into the air immediately, followed by an uncertain Albus. Wren put her hands on her hips. "I'll tell Professor Potter."

James's eyes widened. "You wouldn't."

"I would."

"Come on, Wren," I pleaded. "If we get caught, we will swear that we stunned you and dragged you along unconscious and that you're only now just waking up, ok?"

Wren considered this. I could tell her resolve was cracking. "Fine!"

James grinned. "Let's go!"

We clambered through the portrait hole before James would open the map. Wren kept glancing around nervously, though Albus seemed a bit better. He looked excited, actually.

"All right," James whispered. "Here we are..." He pointed to our dots, clustered in the corridor.

"There's Mrs. Norris," I pointed out. "And Filch." They were both prowling around the dungeons.

"Look!" Albus whispered. "Ciara and Nico!" And there they were. Successfully making it out of the dungeons, they were now walking slowly along one of the corridors, headed to the trophy room several floors above.

"Where's Longbottom?" James hissed.

I pointed him out, safe in his room. "That's strange. You'd think he'd be out and about if he was taking you seriously."

James shrugged. "Come on!"

Twisting through the maze of shortcuts outlined by James, we reached the trophy room several minutes early. Wren and Albus, a bit to nervous to hang out in the open, hid behind two trophy cases.

Ciara and Nico arrived just on time, but seemed mildly surprised to see James and I. "I thought you two would be too cowardly to come," Nico remarked, a hint of respect in his voice. Quickly, it was replaced by a sneer.

"There's a reason we're Gryffindors, and you aren't," James said, rolling his eyes. "I'm surprised to see you, really."

Ciara rolled her eyes and drew her wand. "Well, Astra?"

I pulled mine out as well. "May the best witch win."

"Oh, I plan to," Ciara said arrogantly.

I rolled my eyes. James counted us down, and as soon as he said "Three!" I shouted, "Expelliarmus!"

Ciara's wand flew out of her hand and landed in front of me. I quickly picked it up. When I stood up again I found Nico's wand about two inches away from my face, aimed right between my eyes. Ciara looked furious.

"Lower the wand, Jasper," James threatened. "We agreed this would be a fair fight, and Astra disarmed her. Fairly."

Nico glared at him, but didn't move the wand.

"What in the name of Merlin is going on?" a stern voice exclaimed.

I felt the blood leave my face as we all turned to the door to see Headmistress McGonagall glaring down at us.

"Professor McGonagall..." James said weakly. "What a pleasure...what are you doing here?"

Professor McGonagall said, "I heard shouting. Now tell me, what are you four doing out of bed?" She said four. Good. Wren and Albus were still safely hidden away. I didn't dare glance towards them.

Ciara suddenly spoke up. "It was their fault!" She pointed at me and James. "And she stole my wand!"

"I did not! I disarmed you because you were going to hex me!"

"Girls!" McGonagall's sharp voice silenced us immediately. "I do not care whose fault it was. The fact is, you are all out of bed and you are all in very much trouble. Ms. Lewis, please return Ms. Malfoy's wand." I slowly gave it back, along with a sullen glare. "Now all of you come with me." As we walked out, following Professor McGonagall's swooshing robes, I saw James discreetly drop a blank parchment.

Professor McGonagall led us through the school to a corridor containing only a large statue of a gargoyle. She muttered "Peppermint," and a circular flight of moving steps appeared. We all quickly stepped on.

The stairs emerged in a large circular room. The walls were filled with portraits, I suppose of previous headmasters and mistresses. There were trinkets and inventions all over the place that I didn't recognize.

Professor McGonagall didn't speak to us until she was sitting behind her desk. Then she took a few minutes to simply stare at us, as if contemplating what sort of punishment would suit us best.

"What were you four doing?" she finally inquired.

We all looked at James. He was the oldest, after all. "Well...um...you see...it started earlier today, after dinner, Professor."

"Yes? Go on."

"Well, Ciara and her goons-"

"Hey!"

"-were trying to hex Astra, so to get back at them, I challenged her to a wizard's duel."

Professor McGonagall looked extremely tired. "James Sirius Potter, you have no idea how quite like your namesakes you are."

James grinned. "Why, thank you."

"That was not a compliment."

Nico snickered, but one look from the headmistress silenced him.

"Why did you feel the need to hold this already illegal duel at midnight?" she queried.

"To make it more exciting, of course," James said promptly. "We didn't mean to get caught."

"I'm sure you didn't. I suppose I'll have to take ten points from each of you," we all groaned, "and give you each detention. Now come with me, and we shall make sure you get back to your common rooms."

The dungeons were closer, so Professor McGonagall took Ciara and Nico there first, then she marched us up to the portrait hole and sent us inside.

Sitting up there in the headmistress's office, I honestly believed that nothing could be scarier. That was before I'd seen an angry Victoire Weasley. The second the portrait swung shut behind us, she was yelling.

"ALBUS SAID YOU GOT CAUGHT."

"Um...yeah..."

"HOW COULD YOU?!"

"Listen, we didn't-"

"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER, YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH BEFORE I GO TELL UNCLE HARRY THAT YOU'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR MISSING POINTS!"

James's eyes widened. "Don't do that!"

"HOW MANY POINTS?"

"Twenty."

"Each?" Victoire stared at us in disbelief.

"No! Together!" I clarified.

She shook her head. "Did I not say 'don't get caught'? And what do you do? You get caught." She threw her hands up in exasperation. "Go to bed, both of you, and I'd advice you to stay away from the other prefects. They'll be just as upset as me." That might be hard, since Jaycee Bell was on the Quidditch team with us.

Wren met me on the stairs. "What happened?"

I shrugged. "We got detention, and we each lost ten points."

Wren's eyes widened. "That's twenty points gone! In one night! We had the lead before now!"

"Well at least we'll still be ahead of Slytherin," I said firmly. "I'm exhausted. Can we talk about this tomorrow?"

Wren grudgingly agreed and followed me up the stairs to our dorm, where our roommates were already fast asleep. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.

 **If anyone is wondering how to pronounce Ciara's name, it's Kee-ra. Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7 - The Cruciatus Curse

The first few weeks of school flew by. Ciara and Nico went out of their way to make life terrible, but that was fine because it gave James and me an excuse to constantly plot pranks to pull on them. James turned her hair purple with a spell once, and I hexed Nico so he would only be able to sing every time he spoke for the remainder of the day, which made Potions, normally my least favorite class, pretty fun.

By the end of October, I couldn't believe it had been two months. This was more like home than the Lewis's house had ever been. To be honest, I somewhat resented the fact that I was stuck with their last name. At least until I was shipped off to a new foster family. Mr. Lewis had made it pretty clear they didn't want me back. I was a "problem child."

Victoire Weasley seemed incredibly intrigued by the British foster care system. I didn't know how she hadn't heard of it, but I told her as much as I knew about it.

Hogwarts was a strange place for me. I wasn't used to attention at home. Here, I was constantly surrounded by friends and teachers, and the excitement was fun. Especially right before our first Quidditch match, against Slytherin.

The team gathered in the locker room, waiting to go out to the field, and I felt like my insides were being violently shaken by an annoying five year old who seemed to think my stomach was a lava lamp. In fact, most of the players look nervous.

Ryan clapped his hands to get our attention. "All right, listen up! Today is an important day! First game of the year! It'll be an easy win, I believe. We've practiced hard, and our team is amazing. The best team Gryffindor's had in years! If we perform like we did in practice, the Quidditch Cup is guaranteed to Gryffindor. So let's get out there and win!" Everyone cheered, then grabbed their brooms to head out to the pitch. I picked up the school broom I was borrowing and followed at the back of the procession.

Ryan pulled me aside as I walked out the door. "You all right?"

I nodded, but I think my pale face and shallow breathing told a different story.

"Listen, Astra, you'll be fine. You've been perfect during practice." He smiled encouragingly. "Ready?"

I didn't have much choice, so nodded and followed him to the pitch. The referee gave us the signal to mount our brooms, then blew her whistle. Our brooms soared into the air. Patrick Shaw, a Gryffindor fourth year, was commentating.

"The Quaffle is taken immediately by Ryan Ham from Gryffindor, excellent Chaser-he passes it to Jaycee Bell, who dives, narrowly dodging a Bludger-"

I listened to the game, not daring to stop my scanning of the pitch to watch what was happening. Luckily, Shaw seemed like an able commentator.

"-AND SHE SCORES! Caroline Long has scored the first points in the game, ten for Gryffindor! Woodrow Webb, Slytherin, take the Quaffle-he passes it to Miranda Wolfe-she's soaring down the pitch-dodges a Bludger sent by new Gryffindor Beater James Potter, a very competent young player, son of Harry Potter, youngest person to get on a House team in a century, though now the new Seeker-"

"SHAW!" one of the teachers yelled.

"Right, sorry Professor, anyway, Wolfe passes the Quaffle to Benjamin Flem-OH! Jaycee Bell swoops in to steal it-off she goes-she's going to sco-no, stopped by Slytherin Keeper Christine Nunez-Slytherins take the Quaffle-Webb dives around a Bludger sent by Fred Weasley-OUCH-hit in the back by another Bludger, compliments of Potter-Quaffle taken by Gryffindor-"

I zoomed out of the way of an incoming Bludger, and I heard the Slytherin Beater who sent it my way cursing. The opposing Seeker, Caleb Goyle, glared at me from across the field. I quickly set my attention back on finding the Snitch.

"He's coming in-really flying well-Ham dodges a Bludger-Come on Ryan! Goalposts just ahead-Keeper Nunez misses-GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"

Most of the stands erupt in cheering, and the Gryffindor students take up a loud chant of "RYAN HAM! RYAN HAM!"

I squinted around the field. Where was the Snitch? My nervousness had ebbed away as soon as I mounted my broom, but that didn't mean I wanted the game to go on longer than it had to.

But the game went on and on. A few times, Caleb Goyle dived, and I thought for a moment he'd caught sight of the Snitch, but it turned out to be a trick each time. Shaw continued to narrate each play, but I was only listening with half an ear.

"Webb has the Quaffle-he dodges Chaser Long-OH! He takes a Bludger to the face! Hope it broke his nose-only joking, Professor-Slytherins score-"

I tuned out after a while.

"So the score is now Gryffindor 130, Slytherin 80. If either of the Seekers were to catch the Snitch, the game would be done," Shaw was saying when I finally caught sight of something gold glittering almost directly below me. I immediately dove, a rush of excitement flowing through me. I whipped around, twisting through the other players in pursuit of the golden orb.

Caleb Goyle caught up with me after a few moments, and we were neck and neck, barreling straight toward the ground. The other players hovered in midair, watching.

"The Snitch is mine!" Caleb called. I shook my head, not bothering to say anything. I stretched out my hand...the Snitch was only a few feet away...but so was the ground...

Caleb chickened out and pulled up, but I kept on, hurtling toward the ground. I felt my fingertips brush the Snitch, and pulled up at the last second as I closed my hand around the small orb. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to pull up quite enough, and only lessened my impact with the ground.

In seconds, James and Jaycee were both at my side, concerned. "Are you all right?"

I grinned weakly and held up my tightly closed fist. "I got it!"

Their faces lit up with delight, then James jumped up and started yelling, "SHE CAUGHT IT! ASTRA CAUGHT THE SNITCH!" Soon, the whole team landed around us, and Ryan lifted me up into the air. The crowd (at least the Gryffindor side) was going wild. The Slytherin team landed a few yards away, looks of mixed disbelief and resentment on their faces.

The celebration in the common room was amazing. Somehow, a few of the older students produced enough butter beers for everyone, and the Quidditch team members were the stars of the show. It was amazing. Everyone stayed up until well past midnight before Ryan Ham finally insisted we all go to bed.

To top it all off, two days later was Halloween. Through all our classes that day, no one could pay much attention. Even the teachers seemed to be in a festive mood, assigning no homework at all.

During lunch, I found myself sitting next to Rose. "Hi!" I said brightly. No matter what Albus and James said about their cousin, Wren had insisted I at least try to be nice to her.

Rose dropped her fork, startled. "Hi..."

"What's up?"

"What?"

I sighed. "Muggle saying. How are you?"

"Oh." She shrugged, picking up her fork. Her hand shook a little as she did. "Good?"

I frowned. "Are you sure? You seem a bit...jittery..."

Her eyes widened. "I-I do?"

I nodded slowly. "Are you sure you're ok?"

Rose nodded quickly. I decided to drop it. She was still shaking a little, and I didn't really want to upset her any more. I turned to Wren, Iris, and Lacy Macmillian, sitting on the other side of me, who were excitedly discussing the Halloween feast that would take place that night.

About halfway through the meal, I saw Rose stand up out of the corner of my eye. I quickly turned my head, and saw her quickly walking towards the large wooden doors. Only one other person was walking towards the doors. Scorpius Malfoy.

I tugged on Wren's sleeve and pointed towards the door. She turned just as they slipped out together. "What're they doing?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Rose just got up and left."

Wren shrugged as well. "None of our business. Do not tell James or Albus, though."

Later that evening, Rose didn't show up to the Halloween Feast. She had been in our afternoon classes, but I was still a bit worried. Who would miss the Halloween Feast? I pointed her absence out, but the only person who seemed concerned was Wren. Albus told me she was probably studying. James said he didn't really care.

"Wren, will you come help me find her?" I asked as we left the Great Hall later.

Wren looked around uneasily. "It's almost curfew..."

I sighed. There was no way I'd get her out after curfew again, not after what happened last time. The only thing to do would be to pretend to go up to the dorm, sneak back down, and enlist James's help. The only problem would be convincing him to help find Rose, but then again, I don't think James needed much of an excuse to roam the castle at night.

Once we'd reached the common room, I feigned sleepiness and ran up to the common room. I hastily shoved some pillows into my bed and covered them with a blanket, then snuck back downstairs. Luckily, Wren seemed occupied with Roxanne and didn't notice me. I scanned the room for James.

He was laughing with Fred and Louis next to the fire, but I quickly dragged him away from that. "Want to go exploring?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Exploring? I assume this has some purpose. Care to tell me? Or is it top secret?"

"Well..." I took a breath, then said, very quickly, "Rose isn't back and I'm kind of worried and if you won't come at least let me take the Map so I'll know where to go but will you please?"

James put up his hands. "Slow down! Sure, I'll come. But we can't bring the Map...I lent it to Albus."

"Why? He's not sneaking out, is he?"

James snorted. "Of course not! He just wanted to study it. Said he'd give it back tomorrow. But we can go without it, if you want."

I shrugged. "All right. Ready?"

"Sure." We slipped out of the portrait hole and strolled through the corridors, stopping at each closed door to see if Rose was in there. Technically, curfew wasn't for another fifteen minutes, but we were sneaking along just in case.

After about an hour, I was ready to give up. We'd seen no sign of her anywhere, and I knew at some point we were bound to run into someone. I just hoped it would be Rose.

We were about to round a corner into another corridor when I heard voices. James evidently heard them as well, since he pulled me back against the wall. The voices didn't seem to be coming any closer to us, so we stayed still as statues and listened.

"I didn't know it was so late..." a familiar boy's voice said. "Sorry I kept you. I just had trouble learning that spell."

"It's ok." At that voice, I gasped, and James clapped his hand over my mouth. The girl speaking was, without a doubt, Rose Weasley.

"I won't get caught," she continued. "Gryffindor's don't care how late you get back, as long as you don't get caught. Lumos!"

A light appeared in the next hallway, and it cast a shadow of two first years on the wall across from us. The boy gave Rose a seemingly awkward hug then scuttled off in the opposite direction. Rose seemed to watch for a minute, then started walking in our direction.

James was about to pull me into an empty classroom when another small form appeared in the shadow. I couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, because it looked like it was cloaked. What I could tell was that at the oldest, this figure was a third year, most likely younger. Rose seemed to notice the new shadow as well, because she turned.

"Who are-"

"That is not important," a gruff voice muttered. "Tell me where it is."

"W-where what is?" Rose's voice quavered.

"Tell me where he hid it!"

"Where who hid what?!"

The figure paused, then pointed it's wand at Rose, and the gruff voice cried, "Crucio!"

Suddenly, Rose fell to the floor, screaming and writhing around. I gasped and tried to dart around the corner to face the mysterious figure. James grabbed me and forced me back, stopping me from running to Rose's rescue. He shook his head quickly. He was right, of course. Anyone who could cause that kind of pain would certainly be more than a match for me and James.

After several unbearable minutes, the figure seemed to hear something (James accidentally stepped backward and the floor creaked), then turned and darted away. After a few more seconds, James released me, and we both raced to Rose's side.

She wasn't conscious, though occasionally she let out a pitiful whimper. We both dropped to our knees on either side of her.

"G-go get Professor McGonagall! And my dad!" James urged me. I had never seen him so serious, and that was what made me even more scared. "Hurry!"

I leaped to my feet and took off, not bothering with being quiet. I wanted people to hear me. I needed help. I didn't know what had happened, but it wasn't good.

Luckily, Professor Potter was in Professor McGonagall's office when I burst in. They both looked at me, startled. "What is the mean-"

"Professor!" I cried, out of breath and incredibly worried. "It's Rose! Rose Weasley!"

Professor Potter was on his feet in an instant. "What happened?"

"James...James and I were looking for h-her...because she...she didn't show up to the Halloween Feast, a-and we were worried, and we found her f-finally, but b-before she realized we were there, s-someone else found her, and they asked her w-where something w-was, and she didn't know, and then they said 'Crucio' an-"

"What?" Professor McGonagall stood up as well. "The Cruciatus Curse?" I didn't know what that was, but I nodded.

"You have to hurry! James is with her...but she was unconscious..."

The two adults made me lead them back to Rose and James as quickly as possible. Along the way, we ran into Filch, and Professor McGonagall sent him to fetch the other teachers. Finally, we crowded into the hall next to Rose, who was just starting to stir.

The other teachers began arriving, and James and I had to explain exactly what the intruder looked like, though we couldn't do very well, since we had only seen his shadow. While Professor Potter picked Rose up, McGonagall dispatched the rest of the teachers and Filch to search the grounds and to not let this attacker escape. Then, she led us back to her office.

Professor McGonagsll waved her wand, and a comfortable armchair appeared on the floor in her office. Professor Potter gently laid Rose on it, who was fully awake now but didn't seem up to standing.

"Now tell me," McGonagall said, addressing all three of us, "exactly what happened."

James and I looked at Rose. After all, she was the one we were looking for.

"W-well..." she said shakily. "I was teaching..." She glanced at us, "someone...to do the disarming spell, and we lost track of time, and ended up out past curfew. H-he left first, then I was turning to leave as well when someone came up behind me. I th-thought it was Mr. Filch or something...but it was someone in a cloak that covered their face and I don't know who it was! And...and they asked me where "it" was, and I didn't know what they were talking about...then they yelled something...and...well..."

McGonagall nodded. "That's enough, dear, you don't need to go into details about that." Rose smiled gratefully. "Now tell me, who were you teaching the disarming spell to?"

Rose glanced at James and me again, then took a deep breath. "Scorpius Malfoy." Professor Potter looked mildly surprised. James looked shocked.

"I see." McGonagall nodded. "Well, are you all right now, dear?" Rose nodded. "Astra and James, could you please help your classmate back to Gryffindor Tower? Thank you." We jumped up to help her.

Slowly, the three of us made our way through the halls. We didn't talk until we reached the now-empty common room.

"Rose, is this why you've been acting so weird? You didn't want us to find out about Scorpius?" I asked.

"Well...yes..."

"So that time you dropped your books, it was because we were talking about Scorpius? And you've been so jittery because you were worried we'd find out?"

Rose frowned at me. "Are you reading my thoughts?"

"A Malfoy. All this, for a Malfoy." James shook his head. "Really?"

Rose glared at him. Glared. "He's not like Ciara. You can just shut up about it. He's the only person who's actually been nice to me here, except Wren, and she's too close to you two to be friends with me."

I felt guilt coursing through me like fire. "Rose, I'm so sorry..."

James looked a bit shocked at her outburst. "Wow, Rose, I had no idea...I'm sorry too..."

She looked down. "Yeah...well...ok. Can I go to bed now?"

I carefully helped her up the stairs and met an incredibly worried Wren at the door. "Where have you been? What happened?" She helped me lead Rose over to her bed, and I explained everything. Wren's eyes widened in horror as the story progressed.

"Oh my...that's awful...poor Rose..." Rose had already fallen asleep. Wren brushed a stray lock of hair out of the sleeping girl's face.

"Can we just go to bed?" I asked. Wren quickly nodded. I smiled and fell back on my bed, only to find it all lumpy. I threw the pillows across the room at random and think I heard something break, but I was too tired to care.


End file.
